by Roberta R. Barnes ©2002

I originally wrote the following for EzineArticles.com — I began writing a column for a daily newspaper over forty years ago and have continued in various forms. <Shihan Roberta R. Barnes>

When you connect with the harmony in nature, you can gain the skill of presence of mind, learn to view what is around you with a new awareness and often cure depression.

Nature is both forgiving and teaching. Stop and think how everything you put into your body and surround yourself with daily traveled some path to you from the earth. People being born omnivores obtain energy to maintain the physical body directly from plants, or other aniumals and birds.

No one can make you happy, but with awareness without ego you can have the opportunity to feel happy every day by simply looking out your window.

The spiritual practice of Usui Reiki Ryoho, as it comes directly from Japan, opens your pathway to the universal vibrations of love and harmony.  When you study under a qualified Usui Reiki Shihan you become the pathway that brings healing energy to the earth.  The earth has its own form of universal energy, and the piece of universal energy called Usui Reiki enhances Earth’s energy.

In some Gendai Reiki-Ho and Komyo Reiki Kai exercises you are receiving energy from the earth while allowing universal energy to flow through you to the earth; this sharing of energies creates a wonderful balance that produces an uplifting feeling within you.  Usui Reiki is a piece of universal energy and earth’s energy is a from of universal energy; “earth’s energy comes from the universe just as the baby comes from the mother”© 2001.  When flowing through you are both universal and earth energy, you can feel the ultimate of happiness that is called joy, the joy that comes from deep inside you not from outside you

Does not your wakening, your day’s production hours, your winding down, and then your sleep resemble the four seasons? We do not trap sunlight the way plants do, but have you ever felt “a bit off” during that time of the year when the hours of daylight are fewer then night or on some of those cloudy days? Our lives depend upon nature, and the wonderful thing is that nature is always there for us.

When you learn a way to tap into the energy that exists in nature you bring in an awareness that is like a little sun within you. Ever notice how some of the sunniest days are some of the happiest. Through awareness exercises surrounded by nature your awareness skills in everything you do are strengthened. Even nature found in your own backyard can take you deeply into a wonderful wilderness where you can see beauty without the use of your eyes.

The life giving sun, the calm of the moon, and the wonderment of plant and wildlife is around us always. Forget about the teeth and claws, and diseases that have dotted pages and fueled horror stories throughout history. Think of the enchantment of a calf that stands such a short time after birth. Remember the soaring in Richard Bach’s book “Jonathan Livington Seagull”. Think of the flowers that greet the first snowflakes before turning in for winter’s rest, and those that push their way through lingering snow to welcome spring.

In my twenties while living in Canada, a wise woman told me if ever I had any problems all I had to do was sit quietly in the woods and if I cleared my mind and listened the winds would carry the answer to me from the trees. I have come up with many solutions and new ideas while quietly sitting among the trees.

Some wildlife demands our respect because of the way in which their defenses have evolved; think of what you can learn from merely observing them – at a safe distance. While I would never think of a polar bear as a pet, I am in awe at their strength and endurance living in an environment that I could not manage for one day without a lot of technical assistance. Amazing how the cute bundles of white fluffy fur turn into such powerful forms of massive muscles. I have no polar bears in my backyard, but I am lucky enough to over morning coffee have deer, turkeys, and sometimes other wildlife allow me to see them as they sprint playfully across an open area I can see from my kitchen window. Those mornings I receive smiles that turn into happiness that follows my through my day. Start your day with a smile and you will be surprised at how much happiness will flow to you.

To observe nature is to learn from nature. As you allow yourself the time to observe nature in its many forms, stresses will begin to vanish and be replaced with smiles. If ever asked my opinion of the “perfect couple” I would produce a photograph of a pair of mallard ducks that visit me yearly. They glide in together and scan all around them. Then he stands erect and watchful while she eats, and when finished she stands erect and watchful while he eats.

Different individuals are drawn to different plants and wildlife for no logical reason; what harmonizes from the universe is not always by-the-book logical. Through my herbology studies I have been lucky enough to read books written by different Herbalists that recognize the spirit within the herb. While learning such things as the doctrine of signatures and properties is important, learning how to connect in spirit with an herb has an importance of another level.

Life is beautiful if you take the time to push aside those dark thunderhead clouds and to see the promise of sunshine. Connecting with nature, like Gendai Reiki-ho, Komyo Reiki, healing with herbs, and meditation, does not fall under the headings for faster and easier; under the heading “whole way of life to make living more worthwhile” they all place in the top five.

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