The Rural We: Kevin Foran
The grounds supervisor at Kripalu finds working with Mother Nature to be a form of meditation.
Kevin Foran (known as “Moose”), the grounds supervisor at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, admits that taking care of the land is a form of meditation. A Kripalu staffer for over 40 years, he says, “you just have to absorb the beauty that surrounds you.” The 150-acre land in Stockbridge, Mass. nourishes him and in turn he nourishes others with his wisdom, presence, and kindness. For Foran, it’s a spiritual calling.
My life and my work are my spiritual practice.
Even as a child, I felt I was meant to live a life of service. Growing up in New Jersey, my parents wanted me to be a Catholic priest, so they sent me to an exploratory weekend. And while that didn’t work out, here I am working out of a former Jesuit seminary, (Kripalu’s main building was initially built as a Jesuit novitiate). It’s my calling.
My own personal mission statement is to make a positive difference in people’s lives. And my mission aligns with the mission of Kripalu, which is also to create positive change. I’ve been blessed with such a fulfilling, rewarding career for 42 years. I work with Mother Nature and human nature and I pray to make a positive difference in both every day.
The land in the Berkshires is sacred. It was Native American Mohican land and they had great reverence for it. The Mohican influence can still be felt here. In addition, the people who live here have a continual appreciation for the landscape. There’s a lot of passion and intelligence dedicated to preserving the beauty and culture of the Berkshires.
I knew immediately when I step foot on the Kripalu property there was something special about it. I arrived in 1983 when I moved with Kripalu to the Berkshires from Pennsylvania. When I got here the property hadn’t been maintained for 12 years. It was all overgrown, there were weeds on the driveways, the grass hadn’t been mowed. Some days I would crawl on my belly through the shrubs, working, thinking “there’s something very, very special here.” And I spent a lot of time rejuvenating and opening up the land so that the sacredness of it could be felt. There’s a feeling now that emotes when you drive onto the property.
The earth is a gift. Our life on earth is a gift. And our capacity to live on it and appreciate it is a gift. The earth was given to us if we can keep it. The whole earth is an altar — the forest, the outdoors, it’s all a place of worship.
To return to our wholeness in communities and as individuals, we need to regain a reverence for nature. You have to make it a priority. Just walking into the woods is a first step to re-establishing a connection with yourself and nature. Nature is the source and place where the answers inside you come to surface. We’re all looking to escape the hustle and bustle — and nature is the antidote to all the technology. The richness is being fully present in the moment: it’s human-to-human contact, heart-to-heart, feeling-to-feeling — a lot of that is lost with technology.
One day I was sitting on one of Kripalu’s benches looking out at all the trees that had been planted hundreds of years ago, and I was so humbled by the forethought of our elders who knew then that planting trees was healthy stewardship of the land. It’s having respect for Mother Nature. Everyone should plant a tree. We have an obligation to take care of the gift of this earth.
