Meditating with the Birds

I enjoy birdwatching, and I overlooked how it’s a form of meditation.

Yep.

With respect to mindfulness and being fully engaged in the present moment, I am meditating when I watch birds.

• I put down my phone to remove the distraction. If my eyes are on the screen, I am not paying attention to what I need to, and I might miss a bird’s arrival, short stay, and departure.
• When a bird is visiting, I’m trying to snap pics with my camera. I am fully in the moment. And the purpose of using an actual camera is to get a somewhat clearer image than what I can get with my phone. Sometimes my mind gets caught up in the idea that my pics aren’t so great, but when I allow myself to remember my purpose, I stop comparing my pictures to others, I know mine are enough.
• I’m spending time outside, which is how we get grounded. Spending time with nature. (Recently a friend reminded me that solar is Divine Masculine, which balances my conscious efforts with lunar, Divine Feminine.)

The birds remind me of allowing thoughts to come and go in meditation. When we meditate, we may acknowledge a thought or even engage with it a little bit, then let it go.

If you’re like me and thought to yourself, “I need to make time to meditate”, maybe one of your habits or hobbies IS your way of meditating.

Birdwatching also reminds me of manifesting. (And yesterday it reminded me of Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.”)

I have to have consistency and patience.

• In The Goldfinch Speaks, I mentioned how I had to train myself to always bring my camera outside and treat it as though I expected to have a pic-worthy sighting.
• I have to be consistent and show up regularly.
• I have to be consistent with cleaning and filling the bird feeders to attract them. I also have to provide the types of feed that attract them.
• I have to be patient. I have to allow the birds to come when they do, and I have no control over their schedule. I can only control what I do to attract them to visit.

A few days of waiting for the American Goldfinch and a month of waiting for the hummingbird has been more than birdwatching… and for that I am grateful.

Luceat lux vestra.