Stories from the wilderness, yoga nidra, and other meditations on life
“Trees warp time, or rather create a variety of times: here dense and abrupt, there calm and sinuous .” John Fowles
Temagami Time is about our relationship with time.
This Yoga Nidra has you observe the rising and falling of awareness.
Cold Cellar is about flat coke, woolen socks and our habits and hankerings for more.
This Yoga Nidra practice takes you down a steep slope to the ocean.
“Trees warp time, or rather create a variety of times: here dense and abrupt, there calm and sinuous .” John Fowles
Temagami Time is about our relationship with time.
The Musquiem people have a word that means “things that are hidden”. The word is used to describe sacred objects, often ceremonial, that are thought to possess supernatural powers. These objects are not simply art or functional things, they embody stories and histories, the threads that tie the past to the present, the future. Because they are sacred, they are not displayed in the open, reminding us that not everything is meant to be seen, or heard.
“Unheard” is about survivors’ stories – of suicide, dispossession, fire, residential schools – that are often not told. (See Links 42)
This Yoga Nidra practice will take you on a slow walk through the forest, on a winter night.
On my way back down I heard the ringing of copper bells that led the way, brought to life by long ropes pulled by passers by. And beside the entrance I now saw, what in the early darkness I had missed: the brightly painted Lord Ganesh, god of all beginnings, wisdom and understanding.
Still Waiting is a story about searching for understanding. (See Links 32,40)
Sleep of Reason is about rules, and sometimes breaking them. (See Links 40, 41)
This past summer we explored a distant part of Lake Cabonga, an immense reservoir that was created when lakes were dammed and flooded many years ago. What was once a part of light, now lives submerged beneath the surface of the lake.
Levels of Light explores what lies beneath. (see Links 35)
When we rounded the corner of a large island the wind struck us. The lake changed to emerald green, then black, darkening clouds were encircled by light, and within minutes the lake was boiling.
Lake Cabonga is about a bumpy canoe trip, fear, faith, hope and trust.
‘Lake Cabonga’ is the last of the Fear series, which also includes: ‘Shadows on the Wall’, ‘Seeds of Doubt’, ‘Magic Spells’ and ‘Potato Bugs’.
According to legend, some years ago, a powerful gust of wind ripped the net out of the clutches of the farm hands, lifted the long filmy white tail high into the stormy sky, across and beyond the hedgerows, and over the coolness of the darkly waiting forest.
Potato Bugs is about our attempts to control our world.
‘Potato Bugs’ is part 4 of the Fear series, which also includes: ‘Shadows on the Wall’, ‘Seeds of Doubt’, ‘Magic Spells’ and ‘Lake Cabonga’.
300 hundred years ago, one of my ancestors sat at his desk at night, in the house in which we both grew up, and copied out strange words and spells and symbols. The many pages show how threatened and insecure people were in their life on earth, though they yearned, as do we, for assurance and protection. Confidence, optimism and happiness were not part of the conversation; people put their faith into religion and magic spells instead.
This story is family lore and I remember my grandfather telling us children about the magic book that was kept between the pages of our family bible. In the 1970s, after our family emigrated, a local teacher transcribed the spells and published their account in a small booklet called Zauberspruche, Doktorbucher und andere Schriften. (See Links 39)
‘Magic Spells’ is part 3 of the Fear series, which also includes: ‘Shadows on the Wall’, ‘Seeds of Doubt’, ‘Potato Bugs’ and ‘Lake Cabonga’.
Here is a full length Yoga Nidra about midsummer walk along an early evening shoreline, recorded in a canoe on a lake. Listen for the loon.
300 hundred years ago, one of my ancestors, a Josep Bill, sat at his desk at night, in the house in which we both grew up, and copied out strange words and spells and symbols. The many pages show how threatened and insecure people were in their life on earth, though they yearned, as do we, for assurance and protection. Confidence, optimism and happiness were not part of the conversation; people put their faith into religion and magic spells instead.
This story is family lore and I remember my grandfather telling us children about the magic book that was kept between the pages of our family bible. In the 1970s, after our family emigrated, a local teacher transcribed the spells and published their account in a small booklet called Zauberspruche, Doktorbucher und andere Schriften.
‘Magic Spells’ is part 3 of the Fear series, which also includes: ‘Shadows on the Wall’, ‘Seeds of Doubt’, ‘Potato Bugs’ and ‘Lake Cabonga’
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