A Moment of Oneness

She walked out of the dance studio covered in sweat. She had danced hard, laughed hard, and loved every minute of the time with her dance buddies. And now the sun was shining brightly and she felt her tummy rumble in the call for lunch.

The normal Sunday routine included many of the dancers meeting at the local market deli for lunch. Typically everyone sat their sweaty bodies in the sunshine and visited. Sometimes they would eat and chat for hours. On this particular Sunday she decided to skip that part of the routine, grab an apple instead, and drive to the nearby mountains to enjoy the last vestiges of snow before spring melted it all away.

The drive was bright and green and curvy. She played the music loud and sang along where she could at the top of her voice. It was the perfect day for a drive, and possibilities in this moment seemed endless.

It wasn’t long before she was cresting of the top of the summit that exposed the breathtaking view of Mt. McLaughlin. The rolling mountains, snowy terrain, open meadows and thick forest seemed to go on for an eternity. As far as the eye could see was open, undeveloped land.

Soon she found the perfect turn out with a trail head leading off into the forest. Grabbing her apple and water bottle she headed out to see what message the land had to offer. As the forest became thicker, the silence became heavier. The breeze in the trees and the occasional screech of a hawk and the crunch of old sloppy snow under her boots were the only sounds, and soon she heard the babble of a creek. As she came upon the creek, she discovered it was a bit more than a creek, but not quite a river. There were large rocks all around, and it was easy to navigate from one shore to the other and back again. In the center of the river was an exceptionally large boulder where she decided to take a break, eat her apple, and listen to the rush of the current.


As she sat on the rock she took the time to notice all the finer details of her surroundings. The mossy boulders, the lichen hanging from the trees, last years leaves that were still around the edges in dark brown moldy clumps, the patches of brown snow and mostly the sound of the rushing water. It was a shallow area where she sat, if she were to step in it would only be about knee deep. But this time of year there would be no stepping in!! She sat on the rock and closed her eyes. She allowed the sound of the water to entirely engulf her. She could feel the wind on her face that the rapid rushing water created, and her body could feel the pull of the water moving quickly down hill. She began to breath deeply. Her practice was to start breathing and focus at her tail bone and inhale all the way up her spine and out the crown of her head. She continued the breathing for a long while. However, it was only a few breaths until she was able to experience the sensation of having her body melt into her surroundings, and experience that feeling of oneness with earth, with water, with Universe and with God. She remained in that state of being for awhile.

Soon she had another sensation, it was the sensation of a larger energy. It was approaching from her back side, it felt soft and gentle and safe. She was instantly curious, but remained focused on her breathing and her connection to earth. The energy seemed to be getting closer and closer. It crept up on her right side and she slowly turned her head to peek. There, at her shoulder height, 6 inches from her face, was the face and dark black eye of a deer. For a moment they made eye contact, she jumped in shock and startled the deer into taking a step away. As she turned slowly to look more closely at this miracle that had appeared she saw the tiny little speckled fawn that had also come up behind her. The three of them sat in astonishment of one another for a moment. She felt a deep sense of understanding and knowing that in her moments of oneness the deer were unaware of her physical presence, as she was unaware of theirs. It was that flash of unexpected physicality that caused them to startle and experience a feeling of separateness. But for just a moment they had all crossed that veil of separation and stepped into Universal consciousness that allows us to sense, feel and experience our world in another dimension, in another texture and in another reality.

With practice, I want to visit this place again.