It’s Juniper, here with the same Wednesday Wisdom just in a new format and from a new email sender.
Now, on to the wisdom . . .
Did you know that the best meditation teachers don’t speak?
They have plenty to say, and to teach, but they don’t speak.
Am I talking about Zen monks on a remote mountaintop? Or a group of Catholic nuns who have taken a vow of silence?
Chimayó, New Mexico, 2022
Nope! The best teachers aren’t human.
To find out how that’s possible, we first have to answer this question:
Where do we feel peace?
I know this will be controversial but.
Our body is the place we can feel peace.
The body?!!?
Not that weird, semi-autonomous, needy, confusing, pain-prone, smelly, dumb thing!!! That can’t be where we feel peace. And isn’t meditation all about calming the mind?!
In a world that increasingly wants us to be machines without bodies, it’s easy to forget all about our body, to lose touch with basic needs - hydration, movement, love.
We can run errands or sit at the computer for hours, accomplishing many tasks, but living in our head, stressed out the whole time.
It’s almost like we could use some reminders to return to our body.
And who lives this body-forward lifestyle so well?
Photo by Kim Klein, Fort Collins, Colorado June 2022
Just pick an animal. Any animal.
Secret Meditation Masters
Horses have taught me better than any person how to be less in my head, more in my body.
But many other animals can teach that. So . . .
Observe animals this week. Yes, that’s really your homework.
If you have a pet, take some extra time to do something together they enjoy, and really see them.
You don’t need to have a pet. Observing any animal carefully, even from a distance, can teach you a lot about how to be more in your body, less in your head.
Someone I know has been watching a family of groundhogs* recently. The person joyfully told me all about the family dynamics, how one youngster is braver than its siblings. We’ve both realized groundhogs are more complicated and fascinating than we'd thought.
And from New York to London, Cairo to Shanghai, you city-savvy folk have: yes, pigeons count and yes you have access to watching them!
Don’t overthink this or turn it into a chore. Set a timer for 5-10 minutes and watch how animals move, think, and communicate.
You don’t need a big ah-ha, just notice what you notice.
You can start with the 22 second video below.
Thanks for some of your precious time and attention today, and for reading the first email in the new format sent from this email address!
I’m looking forward to many more Wednesday Wisdoms together.
In peace,
Juniper
*I’ve heard 5 names for groundhogs: marmot, woodchuck, groundhog, whistle pig, and at least one person who calls them whistle Petes. What do you call this animal? Hit reply and let me know, I’m curious!
This email and all photos + video by Juniper McKelvie.
First photo came from Montana, on the ancestral lands of the Bitterroot Salish First Nation. Chimayó photo from Tewa First Nation ancestral lands. Horse photo from the ancestral lands of the Ute, Arapaho, and Cheyenne First Nations.
