I recently re-watched episode 1 of Ken Burns’ epic documentary: The National Parks. This episode prominently features John Muir, whose commitment to the natural world is beyond extraordinary. Time and again in the midst of documenting the beginnings of Yosemite and Yellowstone Parks, the episode reverts back to Muir, who essentially makes nature his religion. As the son of a minister who literally beat him into memorizing the entire Bible as a boy, the obstacle became the way.

For anyone who’s taken a walk in the woods and been captivated by a falling leaf, or sat at the beach watching the sun set, or heard the rush of a great blue heron’s wings, you know first hand that nature has a way of interrupting our incessantly busy mind, and bringing us back to a natural place of stillness. When that happens, it’s like we tamed the wild horse.

Pema Chodron encourages us to learn to take a break from our normal discursive thought patterns as a way to reconnect - even momentarily - to our native stillness. Our natural state of open awareness - the state that we often find ourselves in while in nature - can in fact be accessed during our busy ordinary day. Connecting to the present moment, and disconnected from thought - for a few moments at a time serves as a reminder to us that it is there all the time. All we have to do is allow ourselves to be there with it. No doubt some people find it easier to access this state than others. Thankfully, it can be trained.

In a world that is systematically working to manipulate our attention through technology, perhaps we can learn to push back, to train ourselves to find a moment or two at a time to connect to our direct experience, to open the gaps wider and wider between the random thoughts or the same old stories (often untrue) that we tend to tell ourselves over and over again. To recognize that thoughts, like sounds, sights, tastes and everything else, simply come and go. There’s no need to grip them so tightly. We can avoid that rope burn.

If walking in the woods or watching a sunset aren’t readily available on any given day, perhaps you can take Chodron’s advice and simply reconnect to your breath for a few moments at a time. In this way, you’re connecting to your most basic natural condition - who you are before thought comes. If this seems a little scary for you, consider that you may be clinging to negative thought patterns as a way of shielding yourself from the truth of the moment. In any event, clinging to thought is clinging to “I.” There is something deeper, freer, more stable, to discover. Something without ego. You already know what that feels like.

One way to practice this is to recognize moments of transition in your day - opening the door to go out to the car, getting up from your desk, taking a lunch break etc. and intentionally paying attention to the feeling of taking a few deep breaths. Consider it a brief practice of “breaking the spell” of being lost in thought. Just reset, and then do it again.

Another way is to practice meditation. This can be as simple as sitting quietly in the morning with eyes closed, paying attention to the sensations of breathing, noticing when you become caught up in thought, then returning to the breath. (If you try this, don’t judge whether you are “good” or “bad” at it as that judgment will make it harder to get started.)

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” - John Muir

Find your place.

Yours in practice,

Pete

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