This page is about finding peace and happiness in appreciation of the natural beauty that surrounds us. Each week we will explore some of Dorset’s beautiful places in search of inspiration for those moments of gratitude for our lovely planet.
If you would like to know more about mandalas as a source of inspiration and meditation, I give a more detailed explanation in an earlier posting.
Practicing Mindfulness
We are under all kinds of pressure in our twenty-first century lives. You don’t have to be an investment banker, a small-business owner or a single mum living on the bread line to feel the pressures of modern living. We all have family commitments, issues at work or about unemployment, anxieties about the bills or payments owed to us – and all the time the steady drip-drip-drip of the advertising industry and corporate media telling us that we are really not doing as well as we could and ought to.
Mindfulness is all about taking a few minutes each day to step back from the stresses of life, taking time to be more aware of our surroundings, breathing slowly and deeply and focusing on something or someone that brings us peace and happiness.
Nature gifts us with an infinity of patterns and shapes that can be the focus of a moment or two of peace in our busy world.
Take the simple dandelion, found everywhere at this time of year. The bright, sunny colour alone is uplifting. Examine the formation of the petals like a furry spiral around the soft centre. Breathe slowly and deeply and let your focus soften.
The awesome complexity of this common dandelion flower invites us to stop and gaze awhile. Beside it, the emerging bud echoes the circles and spirals that we see so often in nature. The ghostly seed-head repeats the intricate circles of the blossom.
Dorset’s Natural Mandala of the Week
This ammonite can be found at The Durlston Country Park in Swanage. The country park is situated in the middle of the Jurassic Coast, a World heritage Site famous for its fossils and spectacular cliff formations such as Old Harry and Durdle Door. This ammonite, embedded in a huge rock near the visitor’s centre at Durlston Castle, is part of a walk through the history of the universe showing the beginnings of life and the place of mankind in the history of our Earth.
Taking the time to appreciate the peace and beauty of this lovely coastline is the perfect way to experience the healing and energising power of mindfulness.
Miranda Smith
I write about finding happiness through appreciation of the world around us. If you would like to know more. Visit www.mistletoemoon.com.
