Is Orange the New Black ? - A Haibun of Sorts

Someone asked me recently if I thought 80 might be the new 60.  I wondered, irritably, I might add, why in the world she would ask ME that question since I'm nowhere near 80 or even 70 for that matter?  How in heaven's name would I know?

For me, whatever age I am is a new adventure and some years have been a slide down while in other years, I have seemed to gain ground.

Take for instance the year I took up running. I was 57 years old and by the time I had been running for two years, I was thinner, stronger and healthier than I had been at 50.   Then came Rheumatoid Arthritis and with it, enough pain and stiffness to take running off the table. For almost two years, I was without an effective treatment and unable to exercise at all.  The downward slide was all too evident in those years.

crying child
orange balloon
just out of reach

My mental attitude was even more important than my physical condition.  At first I resented the betrayal of my body and I was angry. Stubbornly I decided I would not exercise until I could run again.  Call it denial, call it stupidity, whatever it was, I did not benefit much from that attitude.

snow moon
the brim of her hat
too wide

Once I accepted my body as the gift that it is, I began to move again and found that I really LOVED walking - long hikes at the beach, in the woods and in the city.  I realized I had missed so much while running and now I could enjoy the sights and sounds, particularly of nature, in a whole new way.

deep shade
just off the path
a blue heron

One of the triggers for R.A. is high levels of stress and my doctor suggested I take a look at what kinds of things were stressing me and how I was responding to that stress.  I began a meditation practice.  This changed my life in ways that are still a challenge to describe. 

stone Francis
outside in February
a dove perch  

I use several forms of meditation, each one adds significantly to the quality and joy in my life. They include contemplative prayer, breathing exercises and guided meditation.

 As you may know,  I have an active practice of writing Japanese short form poetry especially haiku.  This kind of writing brings my mind and senses to the present moment - and once I began to live in the present, I discovered, it is not only the best place to be, it is the ONLY place to be.

 winter snowfall -
a lotus blooming
on her kimono

What is Haibun? 

Textures of November

  Time to put bright color away for a time and focus on the textures of an overcast November walk. Mother Earth has treasures at this time of year, subtle and nuanced.  

The woods and marshland nearby provide a dose of fresh air on an overcast afternoon

My beloved reeds have set seed with  billowy cotton puffs to help them fly away.

Patches of watery pond and stream mirror the drab colors and reflect only shades of gray and brown.

These spent asters give no hint of their  recent lavender color.  

Even this swan sees his reflection in a lake of sepia glass.

     

This  Downy Woodpecker provided the most vivid color of the day with his tiny  red hat.

Five things to love about November:

 1)  Exercising is easier in the cool weather.
 2)  There are no bugs.
 3)  Hot tea.
 4)  Giving thanks.
 5)  The sparkly holidays are just around the corner!

Shared with Postcards from Paradise at Recuerda Mi Corazon

Sunday Service

 Quiet hovers around the edges of morning,

no cicada howls its urge to procreate,

no human sounds emanate 

from teenage radios,

 trees keep their own peace.

A gardener ventures outside to work,

immediately enveloped in stillness,

 breathing in a silence more church-like

 than church.

 

Anemones are weeks early,

their smiling faces 

held midair by a magician

who lives in the garden

along with the chelone,
(cha-loanee)

shadow nymphs that nod

and smile at nearby lobelia,

still fired up, waiting 

for ruby-throats to return,

willing to give up nectar for a kiss.

The gardener toils

slipping out of stiffness

into a girlish body,

bending and pulling,

bending and pulling,

she finds the weeds don't resist

preferring shallow roots

they hit and run

 setting a billion seeds.

She spies a shy trumpet flower

wrapped in voluptuous shade 

behind the garden trellis,

a brilliant orange cup,

in search of a butterfly.

 High in the cloudless blue

flies a single hawk,

wings like sails, aloft on a breeze.

She stops to watch,

 and  silent grace flows,
 surrounding

the hawk and the woman.

At last she bends again,

 engulfed in the sweetness

rising from the herb patch
on humid air.

Hyssop bites, mint invites,

basil calms, sage invigorates.

Pausing for a lemonade

when the sweat trickles and tickles,

she notices a green crickety fellow

sunning itself on the window.

It lingers long enough

for the obligatory photos,

and the gardener holds her breath,

studies his underside

through skin transparent as glass,

watching his body perform

the samba of life,

 six legs stretched to the limit,

antennae ever vigilant,
eyes popping,

respirations steady and strong.

This marvelous green creature,

 breathes

the gardener's air.

Linking up with :Spiritual Sundays

Thought for Today:  Sensing 'The Near One' (Karl Rahner) during a morning of garden work. 
            

Exercise Report for June

   Starting an exercise program the first week in June, what's not to like?   I hooked up with another blogger who hosts a 'Readers' Workout'  every Tuesday and I found out that announcing my intention on-line was very motivating!  And it is very interesting to read about other bloggers, their struggles and triumphs with an exercise program.  Here's a link to  Joy's Book Blog  if you want to check it out.

  I made goals that were easily attainable  and chose to exercise early in the morning.  I'm happy to report that I exceeded my commitment of minutes by about 300 for a total of 1200 minutes of exercise for this month.  I began doing some strength training and counted some heavy lifting and bending  in my garden in my minutes.

   I feel better than I did a month ago, am sleeping like a baby again and I dropped 2 pounds. If I keep up this pace, perhaps I'll be 12 pounds lighter by Christmas!  If only....

   I love the early morning and was often able to incorporate a meditation into my walk.  One of the joys of retirement is being able to spend more time on the "Wanna Do List"  and less time on the "Have-Ta Do List" and prayerful meditation , getting in touch with the Spirit within and listening to my heart to discern what God's plan is for me for this day is something I look forward to doing daily.   What better time to get in touch with Him/Her than on an early morning walk in June!

   There is a holistic connection that exists in the Body-Mind-Spirit continuum that warrants our consideration.

  Goals for July:

      Increase my exercise time to 1400 minutes.
      More strength-training
      Increase my speed/distance
      Eat mindfully
 
   Take-Away -  A month of steady exercising felt good -  physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

You Asked For Garden Photos, Here They Are

 

       I spotted the first iris of the year opening in the pouring rain on Saturday.  As soon as the rain stopped, I went out and took some pictures.  Originally I planned to just shoot the iris, but as I looked around, I noticed so many other beauties, shyer than the iris, but no less beautiful. 

    Many woodland  wildflowers bloom in April and May and are lovely but they are less showy. than most garden flowers.  You have to get up close to admire them.  Being from the woods, they tend to grow nicely in the shade, a plus under the cherry tree. Many do double duty as ground covers, keeping the weeds down.  

     This year  my wild columbine, which has been reliable for many years, is missing and I'm  not sure why, but I will try sowing some seeds I saved last year to see if I can bring them back.

     A quick trip outside to snap a picture of a lone iris became a "woodland walk" and meditation on all the beauty I have surrounding me.

The first iris opens in the pouring rain

Love the beads of rain water on the flower

Squirrel's eye view

Bugleweed blooms in deep shade

Wild Geranium from my mother's garden

Lady's Mantle- medicinal herb, pretty ground cover

First Iris of 2012

Painted Fern loves the shade

Skimmia with newly forming berries

Forget-me-nots bloom in profusion and self-seed

Honeysuckle ready to open, attracts hummingbirds

First rose, ready to open on May 5 ???

Spiderwort- grows wild in the woods

Scilla from my mother-in-law's garden

Azalea-loved by the Admiral

  That's Daphne, to the right of St. Francis, a pink spring -blooming shrub with a wonderful scent.  Grows in shade too!



Thought for Today - I'm  happy to share photos of my early May garden.


                                                                                                                                                   

Just Breathe

I've been a closet meditator for years.  I taught myself how to meditate in the 1970's and have discovered many different methods and ways to relax using these techniques.

 I loved teaching some of my patients  how to clear the mind  and meditate.  Over the years, many patients reported that the simplest breathing exercises helped them a great deal.

I once had a patient who had been seriously injured many years before I met him.  He relayed his story to me: On the day he was injured, while he waited for the ambulance to arrive, he was terrified and began to hyperventilate.  Someone he did not know, leaned close to his ear and whispered to him to focus on his breath and to continue doing so until he was stabilized.  His racing heart slowed and his breathing returned to normal.  He credited that person, who was a yoga instructor, with saving his life.

The simplest and easiest meditative exercise I know is to 'follow your breath.'  This  exercise can be learned quickly  and has been successfully used by many patients who were in pain and/or short of breath as a way of reducing anxiety.  Studies show that meditation can lower blood pressure  and relieve stress.  I used this technique when I was delivering my babies and once to relieve a    wicked migraine headache when I had no aspirin available.

First I make myself comfortable in a seated  position.  Then I scan my body from head to toe, noticing any tension or other sensations. I gently allow each body part to relax.   I spend several minutes on this.

Then I bring my attention to my breath, becoming aware of the air moving in and out of my nostrils.  I make no effort to change my breathing, just notice it.  Each time I am distracted, I return my attention to my breath, the sensation of the air going in, it's temperature, and then how it feels as I exhale.

 I listen to the subtle sound the air makes as it passes through the nostrils and the slightly different sound it makes on the way out, gently bringing my focus back to the breath if my mind strays.  I continue this practice for 15 to 30 minutes. When I first started practicing this exercise, I  could only manage about 5 minutes at a time.

   Learning to meditate can be challenging.  Our world is so distracting and most of us lead distracted lives.  The benefits are worth the effort it takes to master the techniques.  After a few weeks of meditation, most people notice they feel more relaxed and less stressed.

There are many CD's available to walk you through various meditative practices and they can be very helpful.  I recommend listening to a sample(on i-tunes) to make sure the voice on the tape is a pleasing one to your ear.

Books and CD's :
                        'Sadhana' by Anthony DeMello
                        'Learn to Meditate' by David Fontana,PhD
                        'The Relaxation Response' by Herbert Benson, MD
                        'Breathing- The Master Key to Healing' by Andrew Weil, MD


Today's Take-Away -  Simply spending time becoming aware of the breath can relieve tension and bring a sense of calm to a harried life.

A Stunning Four Minute Meditation

 This excerpt from  The Wings of Life ,  by Louie Schwartzberg is photography  at its best.  I found this short film to be inspiring and meditative.

  I am one of those crazy gardeners who loves to have the bees and butterflies buzzing around me.  I have a batbox in my yard and  all manner of plants to attract the birds and the butterflies.  This film showed me exactly what all those pollinators are up to when I'm not looking.  We are  dependent on them whether we realize it or not.  I think I'll spend time in my garden today planting  some more flowers to attract the butterflies and hummingbirds.

Here's a list of plants to attract butterflies and hummingbirds:  columbine, salvia, fennel, trumpet vine, butterfly bush, butterfly weed, viburnum, honeysuckle and bee balm.   There are many more.

                                       

Today's Take-Away - Hooray for the pollinators and for terrific filmmakers too!  Grow something to thank them.