first time my heart really opened was from listening to a wet land.

Well said, Mu-raka.

I love impressive vistas and glowing sunsets, but when I really get disconnected from my own life, I get down on my hands and knees and spend an hour or so taking a "hundred inch hike".

A magnifying glass not only illuminates those tiny miracles that slip under my radar ... it also illuminates the context of my life.

David

Lying on the earth mother...my eyes closed, face turned toward the sun, listening to the rustling of the trees in a gentle wind, my toes wiggling in the grass. the energy that comes back to me is that of a loving embrace that is cool, refreshing, serene; and it grounds me completely~

....this is soul revival...

yeah that's a nice way to put it. thanks for evoking!

one of the most overwhelming experiences (overwhelming in a good way!) of this happened while driving through the shenandoah mountains during winter. It was foggy and grey and mist was swirling around bare trees and mountains. I can't say why it happened in that moment but I stopped and got out of the car I was driving. I looked around and realized that the earth was breathing and then suddenly i was breathing the earth and the earth was breathing me. I haven't thought about that moment for a long long time. Thanks Mu'raka for stirring the memory.

Oh yes! Oh yes! When I am with my beloved trees, I sometimes feel enraptured in a way that makes me think of the Christian mystics or the great Sufi poets. In love with that which is not human. Cynthia says that she felt nature breathing. That was also my breakthrough experience. A day of misty rain, typical of upstate NY, looking across a field at the line of trees, suddenly seeing them breathe, then feeling the earth breathing under my feet. And the "hundred inch hike!" Yes! I know that, too. In the past, I have felt guilty and eccentric for spending hours just watching ants climb over pine needles . . . now I will let those feelings go and just enjoy my time with the nonhumans that I love.

I too love the messages written in tree bark and in the old oaken spars that have the soft wood weathered away, leaving the record of the original life force bare to anyone who looks. I also love to see the mossy little worlds on banks along springs and feel like I will never be totally happy or whole until the day comes when I go back to become one with them again.

Thank you for the beautiful thread, Mu-raka.

I don't know if you are familiar with f*ckforforest.com but you can google it. Interesting form of activism ...

David

From the book How to Worship the Goddess and Keep Your Balls

Eyes Open: To See and Be Seen

Making love with our eyes open allows us to see and be seen. In some ways this can be the ultimate mirror in our relationship.

Psychologically, opening our eyes allows us to hold space both for ourselves and for our lovemaking. When we stare at our partner we have nowhere to hide. With open eyes we cannot hide in our sexual fantasies or the titillation of our shadow. To open to a partner while climaxing can be frightening, but it can also be deeply rewarding.

Opening our eyes while making love also allows for numerous energetic possibilities. From the perspective of Chinese medicine our Shen Spirit (mind) opens from the heart and shines through the eyes. When we raise our fiery erotic energy up our spine (as in Small Heavenly Circuit) while making love, we bring our Jing Essence up to enhance the illumination of our Shen Spirit.

From a more Western perspective, we can use eye gazing as a way to connect with the erotic magnetism in all life. This was called magnetation by John William Lloyd, one of the founders of the prosexual Karezza movement of the 19th century.

John Lloyd referenced the ubiquity of life to demonstrate that sexuality is everywhere and always around us; we only need to plug into it. The planet is covered with DNA that is continually reproducing. Our bodies are covered with bacteria that are continually reproducing. The cells in our bodies are continually reproducing. The plants outside our window are reproducing. This is the ground of existence from which our species emerged. We exist in an erotic electromagnetic ocean that permeates our environment and our being. When we engage in eye gazing magnetation we allow the energy generated by our lovemaking to expand and link with the energy of life that embraces our planet.