Bin took three steps into the clearing and froze. In the back of her mind she heard her instructor’s words, “Find the still point.”
It was hard to do when facing a brown bear which huffed at her, frozen in its own position across the short expanse of cleared forest.
“Find the still point.” She let her mind take it over as a mantra. Find the still point.
Slowly, her breath regulated. Her heart in turn, quit stuttering. As it settled into a steady rhythm, her limbs loosened. Her eyes focused. Her energy bound itself with Mother Earth.
Find the still point.
The bear swung its massive head to focus its glare on her.
Find the still point.
It roared. Shockwaves rent her body.
Find the still point.
It shuffled backwards two steps.
Find the still point.
Then it turned on its haunches and lumbered back into the forest on the other side of the small clearing.
As if the sun suddenly came out and bathed her in light, she realized the threat was gone. She didn’t need to continue going this direction. She turned, and retraced her steps away from the encounter.
She’d found her still point.
Connection 