I recently returned from a 10-day trip in Costa Rica with my husband, where we reveled in the kindness and simple life luxuries found so abundant throughout the majority of the country. One area where we visited made a particular impression on me. High in the mountains just east of the Nacoya Peninsula is Monteverde, a tropical cloud forest vibrating with such rich life. While this beautiful bosque nuboso seems to have such an abundance of life, it is also a rare beauty in the world filled with plants, birds, bugs and animals found nowhere else but there. Cloud forests cover a mere 1% of the globe's woodlands, and this particular one is a small 810 acres of sheer beauty and balance. In order for it to exist in such a small space with such a wide variety of species, it must learn to find balance and interdependence with every aspect of itself, from the mysterious jaguar to the courageous and tiny hummingbird.
The simple perfection of the bosque's ecosystem brought tears to my eyes. How is it that a giant, centuries old tree can have over 40 other plants growing on it in perfect balance and thrive in such an environment continuously for millions of years, yet we humans struggle to get along with our neighbors and even other humans living oceans away? Is there something happening here in the forest that we are not aware of yet in ourselves?
Indeed. In the forest, epiphytes are abundant plants that thrive non-parasitically on the trunks and limbs of larger trees and retain moisture from the air. As trees grow tall reaching for the sun and sky, old branches that are no longer needed break off, fall to the ground and decompose. The decomposing matter is nutrient rich soil for ferns, lichen, moss and other ground dwelling plants. The ground dwellers, in turn, strengthen the soil with their root systems, protecting other larger trees and plants from unrooting during heavy rains. Birds fly from one branch and flower to the next, pollinating and fertilizing the ground as they live out their day. Bugs move along the decomposing process and aerate the soils, along with the birds who hunt for the bugs. Each species of bird also feeds on particular insects to prevent over population of pests (you will rarely get bitten by a mosquito here). The moisture in the high altitude air creates clouds that linger amongst the tall canopy of trees, becoming drinking water for the epiphytes and eventually condensing further. The liquified water runs down the large leaves of the trees, to the slightly less large ferns (though still very large by my standard!) and eventually into the ground. From there, some water turns into creeks and waterfalls, becoming drinking water for larger animals like the jaguar and ocelot. And the rest.... does it all over again. Evaporating water turns once more into the canopy of cloud cover, and life continues its cycle.
What I noticed most about the cycle of life there was the commitment involved by each species present in the forest to create a community of interdependence. And that interdependence equals balance for everyone involved. Each species was able to have its needs met simply by the existence of another species. Aside from the occasional squawking parrot to another, each species was exactly in tune with the whole and had no complaints about their own commitments.
Next time you step on your mat for practice, try stepping into the world of a bosque nuboso. Honor your practice space and how you are participating in the lineage of it. Listen to the environment around you and praise it for nurturing your continued growth. Be present with your commitment to improve a little more each day in service to your community as much as yourself. Offer gratitude to those around you – even the noisy parrot-like neighbors – who are in this community with you, constructing the community of humans and other creatures around the world also striving to survive and thrive. Give thanks for the process... for your process... and for the process of others... for death and decomposing also feed the renewal of life, evolution and growth. Breathe into the prana... inhale... exhale... like the clouds that become the rain that becomes the water that becomes the life of you and all that is around you. Breathe in beauty... breathe out love.
OM.
For more information about the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, visit:
http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/monteverde.htm
The simple perfection of the bosque's ecosystem brought tears to my eyes. How is it that a giant, centuries old tree can have over 40 other plants growing on it in perfect balance and thrive in such an environment continuously for millions of years, yet we humans struggle to get along with our neighbors and even other humans living oceans away? Is there something happening here in the forest that we are not aware of yet in ourselves?
Indeed. In the forest, epiphytes are abundant plants that thrive non-parasitically on the trunks and limbs of larger trees and retain moisture from the air. As trees grow tall reaching for the sun and sky, old branches that are no longer needed break off, fall to the ground and decompose. The decomposing matter is nutrient rich soil for ferns, lichen, moss and other ground dwelling plants. The ground dwellers, in turn, strengthen the soil with their root systems, protecting other larger trees and plants from unrooting during heavy rains. Birds fly from one branch and flower to the next, pollinating and fertilizing the ground as they live out their day. Bugs move along the decomposing process and aerate the soils, along with the birds who hunt for the bugs. Each species of bird also feeds on particular insects to prevent over population of pests (you will rarely get bitten by a mosquito here). The moisture in the high altitude air creates clouds that linger amongst the tall canopy of trees, becoming drinking water for the epiphytes and eventually condensing further. The liquified water runs down the large leaves of the trees, to the slightly less large ferns (though still very large by my standard!) and eventually into the ground. From there, some water turns into creeks and waterfalls, becoming drinking water for larger animals like the jaguar and ocelot. And the rest.... does it all over again. Evaporating water turns once more into the canopy of cloud cover, and life continues its cycle.
What I noticed most about the cycle of life there was the commitment involved by each species present in the forest to create a community of interdependence. And that interdependence equals balance for everyone involved. Each species was able to have its needs met simply by the existence of another species. Aside from the occasional squawking parrot to another, each species was exactly in tune with the whole and had no complaints about their own commitments.
Next time you step on your mat for practice, try stepping into the world of a bosque nuboso. Honor your practice space and how you are participating in the lineage of it. Listen to the environment around you and praise it for nurturing your continued growth. Be present with your commitment to improve a little more each day in service to your community as much as yourself. Offer gratitude to those around you – even the noisy parrot-like neighbors – who are in this community with you, constructing the community of humans and other creatures around the world also striving to survive and thrive. Give thanks for the process... for your process... and for the process of others... for death and decomposing also feed the renewal of life, evolution and growth. Breathe into the prana... inhale... exhale... like the clouds that become the rain that becomes the water that becomes the life of you and all that is around you. Breathe in beauty... breathe out love.
OM.
For more information about the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, visit:
http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/monteverde.htm
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