Yoga Book Recommendation: "The Book of Beasties"

Every night for months, Sean and I have been treated to hooting horned owls 🦉🦉

There only used to be one... but now there are definitely two. In my head, they sound like a pair — one has a deeper sound, and the other a more feminine hoot. We have yet to actually spot them, but they’ve been close!

One thing the yogic path reinvigorated within me early on is a curiosity for the signs and symbols of the wild. I remember during a particularly tough time in my life many years ago, I decided I would focus less on the difficulties, and more on the natural world around me... the wind on my face, eagles circling, leaves changing, snowflakes falling. This “Noticing Sadhana,” as I call it, shepherded me through that challenging time in my life.

After immersing myself in this practice for years, it has become part of my routine. Funny how our lives can keep us so far from “nature” in our mind that we need to “get in the habit” of noticing it again 🙃

Anytime I cross paths with an animal (or even an insect!) my mind wonders: *What does it mean!*

And this is the true magic — learning to listen to Nature’s whispers. I love to imagine a world where traditional ecological and spiritual knowledge of the animal world is passed down to everyone at a young age, as it is in many indigenous cultures around the globe... but for me, I turn to my bookshelf until I commit a certain animal’s symbol to memory.

I have a number of books I like to use, but “The Book of Beasties” one was a gift given to me by a friend who has visited us at @ArcticHiveAK a few times now, and I’ve especially loved the way it lays out the information.

I know Owls stand for wisdom and deep intuition — but I love how @sarahbamfordseidelmann_art reminds us that Owl energy helps us hear the meaning BEHIND someone’s words... the undercurrent of meaning, like the hooting that provides the background vibes of our life every night.

If you’ve got a favorite animal book, please share it with me!

Sending love — Mollie