It’s past 8 pm and I’m just now posting about my zazen 12 hours ago.

I remember giving a lot of attention to my head and face during the body scan, feeling my energy body. Definitely life force that seems to vibrate so quickly it has a presence. My presence, the presence of me.

Whole body awareness, with emphasis on noticing sounds again. The sounds of traffic are different on Sunday morning than on Saturday. There seem to be fewer trucks.

I also noticed bird song coming from several directions and imagined birds in trees in my yard and my neighbors’s yards. There was one sweet bird song in particular that I associate with spring.

And sure enough, even though it is February, the mist this morning burned off, and it was sunny and near 70 degrees F this afternoon.

I walked barefoot on grass — walked a rope labyrinth during our extended lunch break that Katie had set up at NLP practitioner training — and it was a lovely experience. I walked it Zen-style — doing kinhin, hands at solar plexus, one hand held in a loose fist with the other palm wrapping it, eyes cast downward, taking small slow steps.

I couldn’t help but lift my eyes to take it all in several times. Spiraling in toward the center, pausing for a moment, then spiraling back out. I felt more open and loving for having walked it.

I bowed before entering the labyrinth, and when I finished, I turned to face the center and bowed again.

I miss practice with my sangha! Different place, different people today — but me the common denominator, bringing Zen kinhin to a labyrinth.