Sacred Mornings

 For the past few days I have found myself waking up around 4 am. I feel rested as I go to bed early. Spring is here, daylight savings time began a month ago ... the sun is rising much earlier and daylight is longer. Waking up earlier allows me to complete my morning practices of meditation and qigong and still make it out to the water before the sun has emerged from over the horizon ... walking to the water with one of my pups is a part of my sacred morning practices. Walking and listening to the birds, and paying attention to every step I make ... to breathing in and breathing .. listening to my heart .... and this morning was Ishkode's turn for a walk. She loves to smell everything. I am sure she can smell every dog and critter that has been on the trail, and like Legacy ... she insists on marking the area to say "I was here!"

This morning we walked around the lake. We began with the sun just beginning to emerge from over the horizon. And when we got half way across the lake the view from the other side was just as magnificent ... the sky and the water were so blue. Listened to geese honking and a very vocal northern flicker .... and lots of cardinals, downy woodpeckers and chickadees. Bird songs are music to my ears. And then I watched birds gathering nesting material .... soon mama birds will be keeping their eggs warm. I wonder if I will be graced this year with a cardinal nest outside my kitchen window as I have been for several years now.

My mornings are sacred to me. So much medicine and healing from slowing down to listen to my body, my heart, my mind, my spirit ... so much medicine in nature.

I am grateful for my life and for all the beautiful beings in my life. I am grateful for my beloved pups ... Legacy, Ishkode and Migizi. They too are my best medicine.