All week long, I heard advertisements for a free workout that the church I attend was going to offer on Sunday morning. It was advertised to be an intense workout that would offer strength training, cardio, and some meditation. There were warnings that we would want to stretch before and after and that if we were not in shape for this workout, as it could cause back pain. And we would want to be very focused on our form and be mindful as we completed the workout.
Years ago, I would have known I needed to attend the workout, but I would have felt resentful that it would be so difficult. I would have whined about it to friends and woken up on Sunday morning dreading the workout. It felt nice to be in a different mindset now. There wasn’t any part of me that was in resistance to this workout; in fact, I was looking forward to it.
I woke up Sunday morning to about 10 inches of snow. I drank a glass of water and had a cup of tea before getting ready to do the workout. I stretched, and then got dressed, and headed out.
The church that I attend is nature and the lessons that it offers come in so many forms. Sometimes, it comes in the wisdom of a tree reminding me to ground deeply if I want to expand and have a wide open canopy. While other lessons are taught with the ebb and flow of the ocean, and how so much in life ebbs and flows, and that rhythm is something to surrender into rather than fight against because we can’t change the flow of the ocean. Yet other lessons are in the form of the cycles of the moon and how they are all beautiful, specifically when we stop comparing each phase to another phase. And today's lesson was about how to access deep gratitude for having the body that I have, one that is capable of shoveling snow.
As I shoveled the snow, I got lost in the rhythm of the shoveling and the sound of my shovel scraping against the ground. As I looked up at the path that I was shoveling, I thought to myself, “This life is so beautiful and I am truly grateful that mother nature offers so much wisdom, healing, and opportunity for growth.”