In the past I’ve had conversations with friends about intimacy and human connection, be it connection with a friend, partner, parent, and the feeling of thirst that accompanies it. The natural ebb and flow of life is such that there are times when you’re so well connected with others that your thirst nearly disappears– as well as others when you may grow lethargic, unspirited and dull, from going too long in an extended state of thirst. Sometimes the thirst becomes so strong that when a hug or embrace is received, you envision your bodies melting together because somehow, only the joining of blood vessels, bones, brains, and hearts will satiate the thirst that has developed. Every hug becomes an opportunity to join hearts.
Lately after morning runs or evening walks, I stop to take a moment to do some sun salutations simply to stop, breathe, be present. I repeatedly find myself in child’s pose, with my hands extended in front of me, my forehead firmly on the ground, and my knees folded below. The image shifts. My brain forms the image of roots extending out of my forehead, deep into the ground, connecting to the heart beat taking place below me. I become part of the living body of the land, in a form of intimacy that is seemingly so simple. My thirst for connection resides.
As I receive a hug that I never had to wait for.
Amazing image, Leah! I will never think of child’s pose in the same way. It makes me want to go outside and lay on the ground and give the Earth a big hug!!!
When I went camping down at Dry Island Buffalo Jump (a mere 1.5 hrs from Camrose), I went for a swim in the river. It’s crystal clear and warm like prairie rivers are. As I steadied myself on the rocks, keeping myself from flowing down stream, I couldn’t help but feel like the river was flirting with me. What a curious and glorious feeling! I also met a bee the other day that I swear was looking at me as I was looking at him.
All around us, the world is waking up, if we simply care to look.
They say that after 6 seconds of hugging the brain begins to release oxytocin and a stronger bond is felt with the receiver of that connection. I love giving hugs, and receiving them, but what are the appropriate times that we maintain that contact, a second, maybe more? How often do we engage in six second hugs or longer, even with those that are closest to us?
It is fulfilling to read that this bonding for you was with our earth, through the spiritual practice of yoga. I am reminded of that completeness that I feel in my own yoga practice, that sense that everything is just as it needs to be. When we compound that feeling with the connections we are reinstating to our earth, a powerful relationship emerges and an inner peace is reached.
Thank you for sharing <3