I was with my grandchild when his father called him “precious”.  He asked me what the word meant, and I showed him with a hug, cuddle, and snuggle, but I’ve been with the meaning of the word ever since, with how precious life is, this inward and outward expansion and sharing of rhythm and breath.  

This morning when I poured water over coffee grounds, I paused, stunned at capturing the moving swirl and complexity of absorption. Precious! And then there was the twirl in the mouth and the swallow down the throat. Again, awareness brewed and bloomed in reception and touch.

Today I sit grateful for my doctors and dentist who have their offices along the bay which may not be helpful with climate change, but for now offer a walk and a view to calm and support each visit.

Yesterday I was at the Presidio in San Francisco.  There’s now a way to cross over the road to the bay, and there’s a beautiful playground for children.  There’s something for all!

Learning to walk out of thinking mind into flow mind or awareness mind is the ultimate medicine.

Jan Chozen Bays, “How to Break Free of the Inner Critic”

The Golden Gate Bridge, bay, and playground

Honoring and Blending the present and the past

Yesterday I was at our local native plant nursery, a place to be with sculptures, fountains, plants, and bees.

Robin Wall Kimmerer:

Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world.

I’ve been with the words of William Shatner and his experience venturing into space.  He, too, like others, looked back at our planet with wonder.  It’s such a precious jewel.

I’ve been meditating outside these days, inside, too, but this morning was outside wrapped in fog, with the hooting of an owl leading to caws of crows and the shriek of a hawk.  Somebody scrambled up the redwood tree.

More and more I find myself settling into the wonders of this world of which I’m part and whole, form and non-form, life and death.  

Chief Crowfoot:

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.

Yesterday, before time with my grandchild, I stopped at Filoli Gardens to celebrate Fall.  The name comes from the motto of the former owner, Bourn.  FIght for a just cause, LOve your fellow man. LIve a good life.

Meanwhile today, the Blue Angels are thundering overhead while birds circle in the sky proclaiming a quiet superiority.

The sun is directly over the equator today.  I balance on a ball that invites me to put my arms out and twirl, centered in what answers and calls. 

It’s a time of balance.

Pumpkins, gourds and winter squash shine vibrantly orange as we nourish on foods filled with vitamin A to refresh our eyes to see in the dark.

It’s a time to sink into the sensations of breathing, to notice more clearly the stimulating and calming movement of air in and out.  

The morning darkness invites us to light a candle and begin the day with a meditative ritual. I begin with this.

Exhale energy down the left side of the body; inhale up the right.  Do this three times.

Then exhale down the front and inhale up the back – again three times.

Next bring energy up the feet through the center radiating from the top of the head like a fountain and back down to the feet.  Do that as long as you wish.

You are your own playground.  

We’ve been experiencing record breaking heat. The sky this morning offers the possibility of change.