My favorite time of the day is morning. I’ve never really been a morning person per se. It always took quite a bit of effort – and more caffeine – to get going when I didn’t have as much say so over my days and scheduling in the past.
I’m fortunate to be in a position where my days are a bit more leisure. I still use an alarm but it is not set as early as it once was. I’ve learned to appreciate my own body’s rhythms. I still have one cup of coffee sometimes half-caf, sometimes de-caf on alternating days. Too many caffeine laden mornings manifests as my feeling less centered and more anxious. I pay attention to that.
I selfishly guard my mornings. They are times for contemplation, reflection, prayer, for labyrinth walking and a time to be. I crave contemplation and need it like I need to breathe. It is a time to dwell in God space sending forth loving kindness to all beings. Busy mind or monkey mind is present but given a piece of scripture or mantra to contemplate befriends it and it too, settles into solitude and quiet. The Beloved is present inviting me to just be. Be here now. Be present to my breath. Listen. Listen to the sounds of silence. Feel the rhythms of Creation.
On this lovely early autumn Sunday morning as I made my coffee (caffeinated this time), I heard the “eeeeee” of the red tail hawk who co-exists in our woods. She invited me to come and see, come and be. I walked to the back yard. I heard her before I saw her. She flew low over the tree tops calling out to me. “See, see, see”
She took a hard right bank and I had to turn around quickly to follow her, spilling drops of coffee in the process. Another sharp right and she sailed out of sight. I had turned around to face my labyrinth. I heard the invitation. “Come and see. Come and be”
I set down my coffee cup. I walked clockwise around the labyrinth to open it and “warm” it arriving at the opening. As I stood at the opening, I centered and took a few deep breaths. What do I need to let go of to take the next step for today, for the week, for the next month and so on? What am I invited to release this day?
And so I walked. Slowly. Listening. Feeling a slight breeze hinting cooler temperatures are on the way. I see the golden rays of light illuminating emerging yellow and red leaves. Two shag bark hickory trees and an oak hold space for me bearing witness to my solitary steps. Turn after turn.
That which is Center receives me. I am grateful for the seat my husband made from a stained and polyurethaned log. “Come sit a spell. Receive. Receive Grace, Love, Connection, Peace. Come and just be.” I remain. Doing nothing. Being everything. It is as if I’m being filled like my coffee cup. All being poured out in abundance. Mistakes and errors forgotten. I see. I hear. I sense. I breathe. “All will be well. All manner of things will be well.”
One more millisecond of receiving Goodness and Cosmic Grace and then I step to begin to return. Using the same path to return as I did to walk inward, I leave the center bringing with me a sense of peace, calm, and connection with Creation and Creator.
This is today’s labyrinth walk. Tomorrow’s walk may be different. It probably will be because I will be different. Everyone’s experience of the labyrinth is unique to them. There is no “right” or “wrong” way to walk the path of the labyrinth.
The last of my coffee is cold sacrificed for the sake of a walk in the labyrinth. No worries! It was worth every last drop.
Journal or Reflection Prompts
What calls you to “just be”? What is your favorite part of the day? Are you in tune with your natural rhythms? If you could change one thing to get closer to your natural rhythm, what might that be?
What contemplative prayer/meditation practices affirm and nourish you? Are you being invited to explore and “play” with other practices?
What do you need to release or let go of to take the next step for today? Tomorrow? This week? This month? For your life?
You can finger “walk” a labyrinth using a paper labyrinth or a lap labyrinth. https://www.relax4life.com/download-paper-finger-labyrinths/
Veriditas Labyrinth trainer Catherine Anderson offers a self guided online workshop to create a 12”x12” collage labyrinth which you can walk using your fingertips. https://vimeo.com/159389186 I am in the process of creating my own collage labyrinth.