Rest in nature

​Today I am feeling the effects of a flu-cold-snuffle reality. The type that drains the body and condenses the will power back to the basics. I am using  pillow-slips for  handkerchiefs - all the other soft cotton type of things in our house have absorbed to their limit and are in the laundry awaiting cleaning. My head hurts - my eyes want to stay  closed.....

Today I am feeling the effects of a flu-cold-snuffle reality. The type that drains the body and condenses the will power back to the basics. I am using  pillow-slips for  handkerchiefs - all the other soft cotton type of things in our house have absorbed to their limit and are in the laundry awaiting cleaning. My head hurts - my eyes want to stay  closed.

Today we also had the return to the Weekly Nature Meditation. So what better way to honour this commitment and the current cold-flu realities than sink into restful restorative practices. Helpful when you are cold-sick or tired-busy-stressed-sick. The applications of nurture and nourish are beautiful.

Snuggled deep into many layers of jumpers, beanie, blanket I set out on a gentle walkabout in our 'home space' at Little Paradise Falls . In my achy hazy state I am surprised to notice new features and colours in this familiar landscape - a striking hollow in a tree we have often walked past, the scrubbed out scratching's  of leaves moving against smooth bark, wildflowers a-blooming.

Atop of the lookout - flat slabs of rock are the perfect nestling space for a restorative yoga practice. I set up a snuggle space on the rock and follow a restorative sequence inspired by The Practical Mystic.  Soothing, restful, peaceful = restorative. Practicing Viparita Karani in this setting, my legs up a very special rock wall.

Beautiful restful sketches below from The Practical Mystics blog page.

I slowly wander down through the 'Guardian Rocks' (still, tall rocky outcrops that it seems to me tower around the falls themselves - creating a necessary pathway of quietening and reverence as one enters the space of the cave below the falls).

Here I crawl into the foetal position, on a patch of dry earth - slotted deep back in the cave. I watch the tumbling waters with curious eyes. My still and steady body resting, breathing. My eyelids close - I feel the direct embrace of the earth itself - the arching rocky rooftop just millimetres above me, the grains of crunchy earth pushing upward from the floor. I rest in this loving embrace, the sound of constant water fall soothing and drumming me to sleep.

On the return back up the hill, I stop and gently place my aching head on the smooth bark of a gum tree. I bow down to both rest and gentle activity and recognising the natural space for both .