Sagebrush, Timberline, and the quality of touch

Today was a day of leisure to rest and prepare for my journey onward to Yellowstone. I enjoyed a massage at the Grand Targhee Spa. My massage therapist was a girl named Joanna whose technique and variety of strokes were excellent. However, as I find with so many body-workers, the quality of touch was lacking. To me, as a trained massage therapist, massage does not just address the physical body; it is critical that the therapist be attuned to the spiritual and emotional aspects connected to the body. A bodyworker must be centered and grounded. It is the rare individual who is able to "touch" the spirit, the soul, and the physical body equally.

During my drives up the mountain and through the Teton Pass as well as on my trail ride, I became aware of varied types of timberlines. At 10,000 feet, not many plants or trees are able to survive. At the higher altitudes I noticed that most trees seem to be of the evergreen family. When I searched for Indian Paintbrush to pick and dry press, I noticed that it did not seem to be as evident at the lower altitudes. On our trail ride, there was a defined timberline where the aspens stopped growing. Aspens exist at lower altitudes, as does sagebrush.

Sagebrush grows abundantly here in the west on the plateaus in the valleys and lower altitudes of the mountains and passes. I stopped in Targhee National Forest on my way to the spa to pick some sagebrush for smudge bundles. It is popular as a smudge herb. For those of you who may not be familiar with smudge, Native American shamans would light tightly bundled dried herbs and use the ensuing smoke in spiritual ceremonies and also to cleanse negative energy from physical areas like a room as well as from auras. Sage is one of the more commonly used herbs for this purpose.

Do you think, as humans, we have our own timberlines? -- the timberline being the point in our lives when we cease being puppets manipulated by our warped society and begin to define who and what we are. When we cross that timberline, we acquire a sense of wholeness which affects our perceptions of people and situations around us.

My experiences here in the beautiful Tetons have touched me profoundly. Tomorrow morning I will leave Intermountain Lodge and Driggs, Idaho, to cross the Teton Pass into Jackson Hole and then north into Yellowstone.

Namaste!