A Winter Meditation
by Ann Kebbell, member of Walpole NH UU Church
January, 2009
Most mornings in winter, I strap on my skis, call the dogs, and head out into the fields behind our house. It’s relatively flat and I ski laps. The only differences from day to day being the scents the dogs pick up, the trails left overnight in fresh snow, the ever changing weather, and of course, whatever my ever busy brain is planning at the beginning of a new day. These constant and ever-changing laps I ski are my daily meditation. Without them I would never get to the silence, the quiet mind, the honest heart that allows me to begin another day. This is the place where I can listen deeply to myself and hear, without distractions, where the world is calling me.
Weather and health dependant I try to ski four laps. Not being able to keep a reliable count, I named the laps; Heart, Mind, Soul, and Spirit. By focusing on each name in turn I now can keep track of how many I’ve skied, but more importantly I quiet myself so that I can really listen.
The first lap is HEART. My heart beats faster as my body wakes up to move creaky limbs and keep up with the dogs who race ahead across the field. The cold air, the sun glistening on frosted branches, the calls of the birds – I hear the vitality of my body as I reenter a winter world.
Rounding into the second lap, I ski onto my own tracks and the focus changes to MIND. I hear the monkey mind jam packed with daily minutiae – do I have time for this today? I’ve got to get those bills in the mail – all I want to do today is quilt and I’ve got to get to work on that service…blah, blah, blah – we’ve all heard it. MIND, I say be still. I listen to by breath and tune out the trivia so that I can hear the silence. The rhythmic swish of skis and a lone bird call comfort me as I settle into emptiness.
I enter the third lap, SOUL; ready to hear what is at the center of this day. Torn between where my heart calls and work dictates, I catch a glimpse at the higher ground where they can coexist. I am ruled by divergent passions and their convergence; however it may manifest itself, is the path I am here to follow. Listening deeply, I begin to hear my strength.
With a familiar ache in my legs and despite numb toes and paws, the dogs and I round the bend into our last lap, SPIRIT. My body is refreshed with lungs full of winter air, my inner voices are quieted by the effort I’ve invested, and I am reconnected to a world teeming with life. We head back home, ready to begin another day.