Nadine Mustafa Teresa of Avila aptly noted, “Just as there are seasons in the world around us, so there are in our interior life.” “We cannot expect it to be otherwise.”
Spring is a season of regeneration and transformation. It’s the season when buds turn into flowers and fruits when soothing rain rinses sidewalks and drops like grace on scorched rural lands, so when the hard earth underneath us softens to enable fresh life to sprout. As it is outdoors, so it is within. Spring is a season for spring cleaning and creating room for new opportunities and responsibilities. It’s time to awaken our perceptions and broaden our perspectives. It’s time for us to start fresh.
With all this in thought, we’ve created some meaningful approaches for you to celebrate the beginning of spring this week. God willing, they would prolong an indoor reinvention to complement all of the wonders taking place around us.
Begin Each Day with Refreshing Visualization
Do this visualization practice in the mornings before breakfast for refreshment, overall wellbeing, regeneration, and control. Fran Greenfield presented us with the “Tree of Life.
Shut your eyes and exhale three times steadily. Consider yourself walking down a road with a big, tall tree ahead of you. Walk to this tree and appreciate it, understanding this is the tree of life. Stand next to the oak, pressing up against it. Sense yourself being one with the tree when you stay here. Catch your toes wiggling into the earth, absorbing its resources and vitality. Consider the chest to be the root, and your limbs to be reaching out through the roots. Exhale out afterward, then gently move, feeling revitalized, awake, conscious, and fully yourself. Appreciate the tree for this opportunity. Then gradually open up your eyes.
Cultivate Unity
Practice the Zen method as follows. “In my hands, I have a glass of tea,” you say as you sip a cup of green tea. The color green represents all of nature to me. When you close your eyes, imagine to see green mountains and clear water inside your heart. Believe these to become a part of your being as you drink silently.”
Perform an Energy Fast
Using no artificial lamps for 24 hours to partake more fully in the Earth’s cycle of light and shadow. Using no equipment when cooking for a day to reconnect with the smells and textures of your meals. Don’t switch on the tv, radio, or music machine today if you want to hear the real sounds of your country.
Spend Some time With Your Indoor Plants
Offer your houseplants a taste of spring regeneration. Report any plant that requires it. Take them to the tub and spray them thoroughly. Admire their elegance and toughness when you replace them.
More About Your Community
Get a guidebook on the herbs, trees, animals, and small pets that are native to your region. Learn about their distinctive features, activity habits, region, diet, and other characteristics. Take a stroll and greet your neighbours by name.
Clear The Head
Clean the mirrors of your home or condo. Then spend a bit of time in silence clearing away the debris that is obscuring your view. Dispose of any resentments, grievances, or wounds you might be harboring. If you ever need to forgive someone, even yourself, choose it. Build a practice to represent cleansing and dusting the windows of your soul.
