Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2022
One of the spiritual practices I try to do regularly is walk the land. This is a practice of communing with the spirits of the land and nature in order to develop a relationship with them, but it can also have other aspects, which can be equally important, such as healing. Whether I’m walking in my suburban neighborhood, or in a urban area, or in a park or in the countryside, I find that the spirits of the land are always with us, just waiting for us to open ourselves to them, if we are willing to be receptive.
On the 4th of July weekend I hiked Spencer Butte for the first time. I had been meaning to go it for a while, but hadn’t found a good time to do so. The long weekend presented that opportunity and I decided to take myself on a date and visit the Butte. Walking the land on the Butte became a healing experience for me, setting my soul to rest as I soaked in the experience of nature and let the land into speak to and through me.
When I started hiking the Butte I chose the left hand path, the difficult path, and I chuckled to myself because so often that has been the path for my life as well. I haven’t usually taken the easy path with anything and I certainly wasn’t here. I hiked up the steep path and as I did I started soaking in the experience, with all of my senses, allowing it to pervade my being. As this occurred I felt tension in my heart ease and a blockage begin to dissolve as I let the natural energy flow into me.
Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2022
I continued hiking to the top of the Butte. When I got to the top, I could look around and see the small town I live in to the North and West of the Butte, as well as the farmland stretching South. Then I looked down and saw a squirrel very close to me, resting in the crevice of a couple rocks while eating. I watched it and carefully took a picture. I was so close to it and I didn’t want to disturb it.
Picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2022
Being so close to the squirrel and watching it relax and eat brought on a feeling of awe. It’s so easy to take for granted the life we live with that having a moment such as this touched me deeply and helped me appreciate all over again how I am just one life among many in this world. I stayed up at the top of the butte for a while and just communed with the land and the life before I went down the right hand path (the easy path). Ironically on that path, I almost slipped when I stepped on a rounded stone step that ended up being slippery. Fortunately I didn’t myself, but it reminded me how even easy paths have the potential to become difficult.
Picture Taylor Ellwood 2022
As I walked down the right hand path, I continued to open myself to both the physical and energetic sensations I was receiving. I felt the energetic blockages in my body dissipate as I mediated the energy of the land through them, bringing the blockages from a state of ice to water to gas (basically moving them outward). A feeling of deep contentment stretched through me and for that moment I felt deep peace and relaxation. I carried with me with for the rest of the day and I’ve carried it with me since, to some degree or another. It’s helped me with some deep internal work I’m doing at the time of this writing and as I continue to bond and connect with the land here, I think it will continue to take me deeper into this work.
Walking with the land is essential for us. We need to reconnect with the land around us and allow it to move through us powerfully and gracefully. When we allow that connection it brings us out of our heads and into the embodied experience we are part of while also connecting us to the larger world around us. It expands our awareness and brings us to a state of intimacy with the world that we deeply need because that intimacy can heal us and the connection we have with the world.
