Being Receptive to Nature’s Teachings

One of my daily practices to stay in balance is walking in nature. I’m blessed to live directly across from a lake, where I have a beautiful gift of glorious mountain vistas, plentiful vegetation and wildlife, and a path to walk within the magic of the natural world.

Do you walk in nature? What can the natural world convey to you?

Shamans receive messages from the natural world, and although the interpretations can vary, some essential and powerful elements provide the groundwork to integrate in daily life. The key is to pay attention. We humans are of the natural world, but with our busy lives, sometimes we forget. The spirits of the land and the animals remind us to slow down, take notice, and connect with the earth, air, water, and fire; the elements that make up what we see in the physical world. Our bodies are containers for those very elements, and when we recognize this connection, magical happenings take place.

Some of my sightings of animals and their totems (power gifts) and their messages to us humans are interpreted from the book Animal Speak by Ted Andrews published Llewellyn. Some are my interpretations after meditating on what the particular animal's message is for my life. You can check out those interpretations at the end of this posting. The messages I receive from nature come from the elements, directions, colors, natural behaviors, and internal knowledge that I'm experienced through six-sensory living.

I choose the early morning to walk in nature. The cool air of the morning reminds me that breath is essential for all life. I consciously fill my lungs with the fresh air of the morning. With the inhalation, I receive; with the exhalation, I give. The outer and the inner world meet in the pause between breaths. I greet the magic of the new day with this simple practice of conscious breath.

The water is alive. Water is the receptive element, and takes on its container. I usually see fish breaking the lake’s surface. Sometimes the lake is very still, like glass. Sometimes it’s choppy and full of movement on the surface. Water fowl of every kind make this lake their own watering hole. Today, I watched as a blue heron flew over my head, moving east towards a suitable landing. There is also a pair of white pelicans who are fond of resting near the western side of the lake. Sometimes in the mornings, I will see two sets of pelicans close to each other, near the shore, where the fish congregate.

The breaking dawn through the horizon (the fire element) moves me to walk a little faster (fire is a great inspiration element, and I choose to finish my walk before the heat of the day).

Walking a sacred path on the earth allows grounding and stability. The great mother Earth will always support me in this physical life, and I daily give thanks and gratitude, for each living being I come into contact with.

I always see young brown rabbits, with their soft, puffy cottontails, munching on grasses and predictability skittish when a dog and owner travel by.








Once in a while I will happen on a coyote. With plenty of rabbits as prey, the coyotes have no issues with going hungry.

All songbirds have the totem of communication and expression through sound. The morning air is filled with their beautiful songs.

Birds make their migration pit-stop at the lake, and I observe and enjoy. The most spectacular bird I’ve seen, color-wise, is the beautiful Western Tanager.

To me, the tanager offers me a message to say “yes” to passion and color in my life. I can reflect what tanager offers me by relishing in being seen, and even a little showy and flirtatious in the world.

Red-winged blackbirds and yellow blackbirds (black to me is the “shadow” color) remind me to look within my own energetic world to see how I can illuminate what beliefs, patterns, and habits I have disowned or disregarded. The male red-winged blackbird, has white bars, red, and yellow, reminding me that I can lighten up with each new day, and renew my passion any time I choose (white, yellow, and red).

• Black: the color of the shadow, and the hidden gifts to be illuminated, the ancestors
  
• White: the color of purity and integration; color of spirit
  
• Red: the color of passion; associated with the direction of south, element of fire; the healer
• Green: the color of fertile earth, the warrior archetype, the direction of north
  
• Yellow: the color of new beginnings, inspiration through inner knowing and intellect; associated with the direction of east, element of air; the visionary
  
• West: associations with the teacher; color association blue, element of water, the color of the sky, emotion;
• Pelican: Renewed buoyancy and unselfishness, coming up and staying on the “top” of the water (emotions) easily and effortlessly. Pelicans don’t lift off too easily from their watery habitat. Sometimes our emotions (when unexpressed) weigh us down. Pelicans work cooperatively with their kind to fish in tandem for the greater good of the community. Seeing two or more pairs of pelicans are common, and their ability to work without competition is a gentle reminder that our survival is dependant on common goals and working with teamwork.
• Heron: Self-determination, self-reliance. The long legs provide the stability in the deep waters where the heron feeds. The water element symbolizes emotion, and being able to stand on one’s own, in the middle of an emotional or fearful situation is a positive trait.
• Flying east: moving toward intellect and internal knowing.
• Brown: earth color, from the Mother Earth, maternal
• Rabbit: fertility, new life, fear, seeking protection, burrowing, quick to change direction, camouflage, adaptability.
• Coyote: Wisdom and Folly. Native American traditions refer to the coyote as the trickster, a fun-loving, playful predator. Coyote is intelligent and adaptable, and can be found easily in the city as in the wild, wide open spaces. Coyotes are social and cooperative when they hunt. Their family units are close knit, and often mate for life. The coyote totem is one of many contrasts. It reminds me to be focused, but not to take life too seriously.