Storks in the Green
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Walking “the stork walk” in a Kneippanlage in Otterberg, Germany.
One of Nora Jassak’s amazing pictures.
On Sunday morning, Nora took us walking through green rolling hills to the Shaolin Temple in Otterberg, Germany. The stillness and calm surrounding the buddhist monastery touched us all deeply. Quiet reverence and sweet companionship was ours for the sharing.
On the winding road back, Nora pulled over to introduce us to another place of wonder and restoration — a spring-fed “treading pool,” ice cold. Nora explained the ritual here for self care and rejuvenation: We were to walk in a circle around the pool, lifting our legs high out of the water on each step “like a stork.” It had been a few weeks since Nora had visited, and green algae now coated the bottom, which called for balance in the slow, serene march.
Walking in line behind Nora, those willing to take the risk made their way out to circle the pool. At the end of the circle, Nora pointed up the hill where we would walk, barefoot, to restore circulation. (True story, folks. It was snow-melt cold in there.) Then we did it again and again. Others in our party joined the march as we proved it was possible to manage without a slip.
Here we were, as in so many moments that we’ve spent together as a Joy Collective, reverent and irreverent at once. Balancing precariously between upright and flat-on-our-faces, trying not to hold our breath, and reaching for one another’s hands. We took the slow and steady march quite seriously according to Nora’s instructions, sometimes gasping with large eyes at the chill. Then afterwards, erupting in giggles, I flung swamp weed from my arms and danced up and down the path. We all laughed together and stretched out in the dappled sun to warm our cool, damp skin. What a joy to live the dynamic edge of serious and silly in community with loved ones!
Where does reverence dance with irreverence in your life? Who are the people you trust to join you in this flow of playful awe and wonder?