Some days I just feel a bit “schlumpy.”  Sometimes I can pinpoint a reason – perhaps I didn’t eat well the day before, or maybe I’m resisting doing something I know I need to do, or maybe I couldn’t find clarity on a certain issue.  But other times my conscious mind can’t figure out why I’m in the doldrums.  What do we do when we are in these slumps?

Yesterday was such a day for me.  So was this morning.  I knew I needed to shift my energy.  So here is what I did.  I began the morning with some inspiring music.  Music can have an awesome power to affect our moods and our energy.  I also did a bit of cleaning so that my environment would be more pleasing.  After that I went outside.  For me personally, this is key.

We are spiritual beings, but we are also mammals.  When we were created, I don’t think God intended for us to spend most of our days in boxes.  These four-walled houses, offices, and stores were our invention.  Sometimes we can do just fine in our little boxes.  But sometimes I think our spirit yearns desperately for fresh air, for earth and trees and sky.

I have created some sacred space in my backyard.  It is kind of a medicine wheel/prayer circle.  I happen to live in the desert at the moment so I could simply draw a circle in the earth and mark the four directions with a stone or crystal.  For those of you who are blessed to live where there is beautiful green grass, stones are probably the easiest way to create a circle.  But we don’t necessarily need to create sacred space.  All we have to do is find a place that feels good and safe and happy.  It may be a backyard; it may be a park; it may be the shore; it may be a woods.  But please, do yourself a favor and seek out a place that feels special to you.

Once you are in that space, simply sit.  Or if it’s particularly warm, perhaps lie down.  Just sit.  Just lie.  Say prayers if you want but then afterwards, just be.  Just sit in silence and breathe in and out.  You may or may not become aware of a gentle breeze or the sun’s penetrating rays or the songs of the birds or the clouds dancing in the sky.  But rest assured, the Earth is speaking to you.  She is comforting you.  Because if the Earth is our Mother, then surely we are her children.  And surely she wants to offer you her love and comfort.

Just allow these ministrations of the Earth to nourish your spirit.  Be in a place of not doing.  Let yourself receive this grace.  After a time of sweet solitude, you may find yourself feeling remarkably refreshed.

Now you can return to the “regular world,” if you choose, and be about your day.

But please, once in a while, allow your spirit to be refreshed in the natural world.

It is free medicine for our soul. 

May you be blessed.