{"id":1051,"date":"2012-04-07T00:58:45","date_gmt":"2012-04-07T06:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.practicalspirituality.info\/inneressentials\/?p=1051"},"modified":"2012-04-07T01:02:07","modified_gmt":"2012-04-07T07:02:07","slug":"lessons-from-a-majestic-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.practicalspirituality.info\/inneressentials\/2012\/04\/07\/lessons-from-a-majestic-mother\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from a Majestic Mother (and Father)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Want a quiet thrill to boost your springtime mood?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Put this at the top of your list:\u00a0 watch this live webcam<\/strong><\/a> of a mother and father bald eagle and their newborn eaglets. The three babies hatched about 10 days ago and you can watch (and hear) them live 24 hours a day\u00a0 (see more links at bottom of post too).<\/p>\n

The non-profit Raptor Resource Project has live webcams of several birds\u2019 nests, and the hottest one right now\u2014high in a tree in Decorah, Iowa\u2014will make you smile. Guaranteed.<\/p>\n

WARNING:<\/strong> if you start watching this when you have something you really need to get done, you might be sorry. It\u2019s hard to take your eyes off the tender, magnificent scene unfolding before your eyes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While I was watching on and off yesterday, the father eagle arrived a couple of times with some fresh prey while the mother\u2014constantly moving her head, watchful and protective\u2014kneaded the nest with her huge talons and fed, cleaned, and tucked those little ones under her immense, warm body.<\/p>\n

Why we can\u2019t take our eyes off of you\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why is this play of nature so fascinating to watch? There\u2019s something deeply moving and resonant in watching the mama eagle gently rock back and forth, back and forth as she hovers over and snuggles her young beneath her. Something unbelievably heart-opening in the way those vulnerable little fledglings stumble and tumble over each other as mother and father take turns feeding them bits of fresh fish. And something awe-inspiring and comforting as the father spreads his enormous wings and lifts off from the nest on his next tour of duty\u2014and then swoops down to visit and drop off a fresh catch.<\/p>\n

Most of all, there is something grandly archetypal in this scene that touches our spirit and reminds us of beautiful, majestic, selfless motherhood in the deepest sense of that word.<\/p>\n

We all long to be nestled by the great mother. And there is a part of each of us that is compelled to be \u201cmother.\u201d The mother is that part of you that nurtures and protects the emergence of new life. As we watch the mother eagle nourish her young with such majesty and aplomb, it reminds us of our own calling to nurture and protect what\u2019s growing inside of us\u2014and inside those who are in the circle of our care.<\/p>\n

We are continually giving birth to something new within ourselves\u2014whether it\u2019s a budding sense of needed change, a seed of creativity waiting to be expressed, a recognition of a long-denied truth. We don’t always do it as well as we’d like to, or perhaps we didn’t have good role models. So it\u2019s deeply satisfying to watch this beautiful mother (and father) energy playing out so naturally and masterfully before our eyes.<\/p>\n

The mother eagle shows us what it means to be attentive, patient, wise\u2014enfolding everything that matters under her broad, strong wings.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne has to prepare oneself for each new energy. Every expectant mother thinks about her future child. How then can one not think about the energy that lives within each of us? One has to think about one\u2019s innate possibilities.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u2014Agni Yoga<\/em><\/p>\n

Watching the sharp-eyed mother eagle and listening to the helpless chirps of her babies makes me think:<\/p>\n