I close my eyes, feeling all the muscles of my neck and shoulders relax. I focus on my breathing. In...Out. Deep, slow breaths that seem to be welling up from inside me rather than being drawn in from the outside. There, in my mind's eye, I can see thick trees. They are like nothing I've ever seen, as big around as a redwood, with gnarled old branches tangled overhead. I walk into the grove. The floor is padded with fallen leaves, soft moss, and smooth stones. This path has been walked before, many times. In a little while, I find a clearing; a small space, maybe large enough to accommodate a dozen people comfortably. A pool of water the size of a small well is in the middle of the clearing. It's being fed by a stream that disappears deeper into the grove. The ground here is less cluttered; only smooth, cool grass underfoot now. The water in the pool is clear, but dark. Probably because it is night; I look up and see that the clearing is open to a dark night sky, speckled with a thousand stars, and just a hint of a crescent moon. The air is warm, with a slight breeze that rustles the leaves. The stream runs over it's rocky bed into the pool softly. In the distance I can hear crickets and bullfrogs, singing their conversations. I smell only the woodsy, musky scent of trees and dead leaves.
I sit now, a few feet away from the water's edge. I dig my bare toes and fingers into the grass, feeling the coolness. And I breathe. In....Out. The breaths are still welling up from inside me, like the stream being fed by some secret place, deeper into the grove. I do not feel alone, and yet I also know that I will not be disturbed. Whoever or whatever is there with me, is simply watching. Protecting, maybe, or waiting. It is comfortable there. I sit for a long time, breathing and smelling and hearing and feeling.
Blessings from my sacred grove,
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