Hi there, come on in. This is Seriously Yourself, the podcast and I'm Ingrid Helander. 

Hi there. Hi, come on in, how are ya? Oh, today I have a kind of a yummy topic I think and you can take what you need from it, but I think fundamentally it's about being open to receive and to listen inside to you while you also notice what's coming towards you and for you and for a lot of people that might sound kind of woo like woo what are you talking about? But I've noticed that the more I pay attention to my inner world, often using the skill or the practice of internal family systems therapy. And I think for a lot of people using their own belief systems, the concept of the spiritual life and connection to that might be another concept to draw on as we're talking today or just nature and what does nature hold for us and have to teach us about the life here and our world and it's kind of wonderful. 

So I have a story for you recently, I got to experience time at Kripalu which is a yoga retreat center, lovely, restful, beautiful place in great Barrington, Massachusetts and it's surrounded and in the Berkshires of Western Mass and is just lovely there. And I happened to be there on a beautiful summer day and I decided to go down and walk the labyrinth. Which you may or may not have walked labyrinths. I never did really much until I was probably in my 40's and since then have grown quite an affection for them. They're not mazes, they're not things you have to figure out. They lead you in on a very winding turning contemplative path and they weave you back out and I love them for that reason. And they give you a space to really be with yourself, be with your surroundings, listen deeply, it's meditative, right? You can breathe and just be. And in that space sometimes things come, sometimes you get beautiful messages or just a sense of well being. And a labyrinth isn't something that I would rush through. It's something that I would go very methodically, restfully, mindfully through so it can take some time. 

So on a particular afternoon I decided I was going to go down and treat myself to the labyrinth and I entered the labyrinth and began my walk and just, you know, trying to be aware of what was around me, the sky, the sun, the breezes that touched me. I noticed little purple clover and cute little buttercups along the way, an occasional bird. The labyrinth was surrounded by I think they're used probably like a fir shrub and some of them actually had other fir trees growing right in them. Like they were trying to take over sort of a blue spruce sort of coming in and out of this original shrub that had been planted and I just thought that I've never seen anything quite like that. And I thought it was kind of fascinating and I wondered about, you know, at what point might that just become like a metamorphosis into this new fir tree and would that even happen? So I just was kind of thinking about that and being amused by everything I saw. And as I came around one of the many curves and turns, I noticed what looked to me like a black and white butterfly probably four feet away from me to the left on the path. And as I looked at it and thought about moving toward it, though it wasn't exactly on my path, but it was near as I approached closer, I I was startled by this, I heard this click the snap and realized it was it was a jumping insect. So I came later to find out it was probably a black winged grasshopper which I'm not particularly familiar with for some reason. So it jumped and made this loud clicking sound that took my breath away for a moment and I thought was kind of fun. And then I noticed it had leaped to the other side of the path, but forward from me, maybe a foot from the path, but maybe four ft 5 ft in front of me. So I was kind of excited that I could see it again and maybe it would do the same thing and it had its wings open so I could spot it pretty easily. So as I kept on the path walking sort of slowly toward it, it once again this snap happened and I was really happy about it. It was like, hey, we're playing here. And then I noticed it leaped over the path and went sort of around the next curve and I knew I would be coming around to it again. And as I did so hey, once again there it was and we had a little game going almost and it was so fun and I had some time in between that moment and when I might find it again, I started getting curious about, well what what do I want to know about this, this interaction, this gift of nature here, what, what's what's going to come from this? And I watched it, it hopped again and I watched how straight its lines were. And it was just crossing over paths that I knew I was going to be winding through much more slowly. And I thought to myself, maybe maybe the message is, you know, to take a direct path, not to wait around for this slow thing, but you know, jump over, take the straight line, take the B line. And pretty quickly had this really strong sensation of don't move right toward the grasshopper with that energy of the straight line, the quick path because I could have right, I I could have certainly just walked right over to it and chased it around and you know, enjoyed it, snapping and hopping and see what it did. But I had such a strong feeling of you came here to walk the path you love. You came down to the labyrinth to engage in your process to do what you enjoy, do that. And the grasshopper at that point was on the opposite side of where the path was leading me. And so I thought, well yeah, I'm gonna keep going here. And I kept walking and meandering around. It was taking me farther and farther away from my new friend and I walked around and came around a corner and all of a sudden I recognized oh I might be getting a little bit closer to where I left the grasshopper and I was a little happy about that. But I wasn't really close enough to where I had left it to imagine that my walking would create that same jump again. And it came to me very clearly, you know, you're on the path you love. And if you just stay there maybe the grasshopper will just come to you. That delight will just come to you. And honestly, no joke. The minute the thought entered my mind and started to leave I hear and it was the same grasshopper. But it had left in between and was on the other side of me, right beside where I walked right past it and it took my breathe, at that time I just literally started laughing out loud, luckily I was alone on the left Corinth because I went, oh, it was so fun. What a delight, right? This little bug for some reason that was representing a sense of fun and and a wakefulness and and surprise came to me. I didn't have to go the B line, I didn't have to go jerking about the labyrinth, which was not my paths purpose to walk the labyrinth. I could simply be and it would come to me. 

So I ended up walking through the rest of the labyrinth and you know, saying goodbye and thank you to my grasshopper friend who stayed there,I think. I had an image in my mind, how fun would it be if it just hopped with me all the way back up to the residents building. But you know, that was my, that was just for fun. That was a fun fantasy. I had already gotten what I needed from the grasshopper. It's gift of be patient, stay on your path, be where you love, do what you love and you know, others that want to play with you that want to delight you and be delighted by you will come to you. 

Yeah, so I'm curious today about experiences that you have maybe when you're in nature, maybe when you're just in a quiet, meditative like state or on a walk, What comes for you? What have you learned from your time when you're not really trying to make anything happen. I find that often that creative open space where the best ideas, inspirations, comforts come from. And so I'm just inviting you if it isn't a practice for you, which I think for most of us it probably isn't, I don't know to take those moments and allow whatever is there to come to you because it will surprise you, you know, just as the crack, that crack of that grasshopper was a beautiful surprise for me. I think these little gifts surprise us in a great way when you're outside, take the time to notice when you're paying attention to your breath, your body, your strong emotions, take the time to notice. It's all here for you to gain joy. It really brings such joy wishing you great joy today. 
If you'd like a little more joy in your day your week, please make sure to sign up for my newsletter. You can do that easily at my website https://ingridyhelanderlmft.com/ and consider while you're there, taking a look at the seriously yourself membership each and every month is so wonderful new delights insights, inspiration practices for you that come to you in ways that you can really absorb and use them. There's beautiful written materials that come right right to your mailbox. There's amazing coaching calls that are personally led by me. You're not going to get stuck with a recording and have to, you know, file that away and hope you get to the class someday. It's all live and in person and you get personal care and attention, personal notes from me in the mail along with lovely little gifts to inspire you and remind you not only of what you're learning is becoming more seriously yourself, but how important you are and what a difference it makes to the world and your own community as you show up. So I hope to see you soon. If you like what you hear in these podcasts, do me a giant favor and drop a review that would mean the world to me. If you're on Spotify or Apple or amazon, just drop me a a little quick review saying what you liked. And if you have any questions, you can always reach out to me through direct messages or email. Great to be with you today. Watch for those grasshoppers, they are always around. Take good, good care, talk to you soon. Bye now.

Thank you for joining me for this episode of Seriouslyourself. To help treat yourself well each week, go ahead and subscribe to Seriouslyourself wherever you listen to podcasts, and please share this link with anyone you love who might be seeking a little more truth and delight in their lives. 

If you just can't get enough and you'd like even more goodness, you can become a part of Seriouslyourself, The Membership Community. You'll receive a monthly magazine, personal gatherings and cool little treats delivered right to your mailbox. Find out more about that on my website: https://ingridyhelanderlmft.com/seriouslyourself-the-membership/. 

And thanks to those who make Seriouslyourself special: our wonderful music is Midsummer from the album Flood by the fabulous Joel Helander. Seriouslyourself is produced by Particulate Media, K.O. Myers, Executive Producer. The ideas and inspirations come from beautiful humans like you, that I feel lucky to know. And I'm Ingrid Helander. Take good care of yourself. See you next time.