Hiking in the Moment: Being Present with the Wonders all Around

Mindful Monday beautiful Steemians. I have been offline and being in the moment of big transitions in my career and home. I am so grateful to finally share a Mindful Monday with you all, I missed you.

I started a new job outside of the home and it's been a big beautiful change for me. I have finally been feeling myself again and woke up Saturday morning determined to take a hike before it got blazing hot.

As you can see from his smile and drool, Anjel was in pure bliss. We both love to hike and it's truly our sanctuary and classroom.

For me, my mindfulness was not so much going inside myself but to be observant and present to my surroundings. I started with the beautiful clear blue sky. I gave thanks and focused on gratitude for being in nature with my sweet boy.

Then I became mindful of here I wanted to hike, which trails called to me, and where to go. I actually had gotten lost the weekend before without water and it almost got scary, luckily some nice people mountain biking gave me water and got me turned around where I needed to be.

I had water and I wanted to again let myself be led as to where to go instead of hiking my usual way. It was amazing right before we stumbled into this beautiful meadow of wildflowers a red tailed hawk started making loud noises and got my attention. He did a beautiful fly by and then met up with another red tailed hawk. This was powerful to me because red tailed hawks symbolize being the observer and watching things unfold.

I loved these thistles they are so fascinating. I looked at the bright colors. I spoke all the colors to Anjel on the hike in Spanish and English. He is fascinated with nature and loves when I speak Spanish. We looked at many flowers and examined their colors and looked for bees.

I decided to continue on the path I've never been and came to this big climb.

I was nervous that I wasn't strong enough and inside I wanted to climb it. The rocks were symbolic of the crazy challenges I have overcome this year. Again I stayed in the moment and actually found some footprints in the sand. I focused on the footprints and the thought that someone else had made it and used this same path gave me strength to push myself. I just kept returning to the rocks and the foot prints.

I'm happy to say we made it and I am so grateful for my beautiful, strong body.

This hike for me was all about being present in the moment. This was the easiest time I've had in so long being able to do that! I'm finally out of the toxic work environment and I can see now how much of my energy it was draining.

Hiking for me is my gift to myself. It is truly my time of peace and sanctuary.

Thank you all for sharing in my journey 💜