As I write this I am currently in Maine about to teach a “Pranayama and Meditation” training with my wife Lauren. We arrived last night in the dark, on a 9-seat airplane, and it wasn’t until we woke up this morning, that we could see our surroundings. It is October, and the fall foliage is in full animation with a stunning spectrum of green, yellow, orange, brown, and red. Today we were fortunate to take a couple of hikes to soak up our beautiful locale. As we moved along streams, old railroad tracks, waterfalls and the serene Kennebec river, colorful leaves majestically floated down from up above.

I live for moments like this…nature…beauty…and simplicity.

How often do we take the exquisiteness of nature for granted? When the mind is endlessly full of unnecessary noise, how can we possibly be present to the beauty happening around us? It’s too easy to get swept away by the ‘rat race’ of life, the negativity of the media, and the blinders of unlimited personal agendas.

Perhaps if we find some time to slow down, to see what’s unfolding in front of us, we can receive what our heart truly yearns for. It reminds me of the musk deer. This deer spends its entire life searching for the source of a special scent. It goes on a quest through fields, glades and forests, searching and searching. Sadly, it dies without having accomplished the task. Little did the musk deer know, the scent was coming from right underneath its nose.

Maybe the scent of happiness, love, and God is way closer than you could ever imagine.

Be Ultimate!
Travis Eliot

Practice Tip: As you flow through life look for signs of simple magnificence. It might be a child smiling, a stranger laughing, the sound of a bird, the sun setting, fall trees, or a field of purple flowers. Take in the beauty and give gratitude to your higher power for these gifts.

Current Reading: “The Way of Chuang Tzu” by Thomas Merton