One thing I love about rain in the summertime is that, well, it’s rain in the summertime. For many places, heat and drought during the summer spark fires and water shortages, so rain is a welcome gift celebrated and savored. For some places, rain might bring a heavy feeling of worry of tourists choosing not to come their way, which is a real concern where families survive on outsiders’ spending.
But rain anytime - and perhaps especially in the summertime - is a wet reminder that humans are not in charge. We are mere inhabitants of a dynamic, living, breathing being that we call Earth. Our presence here is of no significance to rain, which makes it a perfect time to sit still and ponder, wonder.
This meditation recording sounds static-y but that noise you hear behind my voice is a rushing river, churning up rocks, red clay, tree branches, and soil as it barrels downstream. To sit quietly next to such living power is to remember our place. To remember our purpose. To remember our connection.
The river is living, the river is alive.
You are living, you are alive.
Sometimes we tighten up things in our bodies, putting a stranglehold on ourselves, cutting off from all that we are meant to be connected with, including people in our lives, and also including rain, creeks, rivers, lakes, ponds, puddles, bays, sounds, oceans. These are all human-created words that mean the same thing: the life of water.
Opening up the flow - again and again and again and again - of communication with the life of water can also open up our bodies which are mostly water. Through our connection with the life of water, we can also open up and invite in communication with people in our lives too. Relaxing the tight spots in our bodies, clearing the blocks that have built up inside us, and using our breath to expand can do wonders.
So here’s to rain in the summertime.
Here’s to the life of water, which is also our life.
Here’s to opening up and inviting in clear communication.
Here’s to remembering.
20 Minute Meditation with a Rushing River