As summer begins to wind down, the grasses have shifted from their glowing golden color to a drab gray and already some of the leaves on the trees are starting to dry up. I often feel a sense of loss during this time. All the colors of spring and summer have all but faded. But as I was wandering through the land yesterday, I felt something different coming from the acres and acres of dry grass…

There is something truly magical about spending time in nature simply being present and aware. The birds return and sing their secret song, the bees and bugs and deer all get on with their usual way of life, usually hidden from our view. When we allow nature to hide itself, it also starts to reveal itself in new ways. And perhaps in those circumstances of real presence and openness, of paying loving and curious attention, nature also loves to reveal itself.

Throughout our life, whether through a spiritual experience, during a meditation retreat or medicine journey, or just through the natural unfolding of our daily lives, we have breakthroughs, insights, openings, healings, awakenings, and transformations. They suddenly, and sometimes dramatically, alter our sense of ourselves, our view of the world, the way our bodies feel, the beliefs we hold, and our understanding of deep existential questions. We often get the feeling that our lives will forever be different, we will never act the same as we did before, or have the same emotions or patterns. And sometimes, yes, we do change forever. But more often than not, we eventually fall back into familiar patterns and habits. The same old emotions and triggers reemerge and we seemingly forget all about our big insights and transformations. That is where the role of integration and practice comes into the picture…

In this moment of urgent need for ecological consciousness and repair, there is a newly emerging movement of Buddhism called Ecodharma, a movement that centers on awakening to our profound interdependence with nature through connecting deeply to the living world around us and seeing directly our deep belonging in the web of life…