I wanted to invite you to come sit in the garden with me.
As spring returns,
I find myself more and more spending time outside,
Making myself busy with yard work and spring cleaning and all the things that comes with it.
But I really wanted to take a moment today just to sit and enjoy and feel the returning warmth of the sun on my skin.
And perhaps you can sit outside with me,
But maybe you sit inside and stay cozy and take a moment to find your seat.
And you might even take a moment to rock back and forth on your sit bones and see if you can find where center is.
For myself,
I always have to remind myself to rock back a bit.
I find myself leaning forward.
And then once you found center,
Imagine really growing your roots into the ground,
Into the earth,
Or through the floor beneath you and see if you can find this kind of dual action of really rooting through your seat,
But finding a lift through the spine,
A lift through the crown of the head.
We'll start with the senses and noticing how we can connect with spring in this way through all of our senses.
We'll start with the sense of sound.
What do you hear?
Perhaps you notice the closest sound to you.
And then can you notice the furthest sound away?
Perhaps the beating of your own heart.
Or maybe the robins chirping.
Can you allow yourself to notice sound and let it wash over you?
And then turning your attention to your sense of smell,
Perhaps taking a deep breath and filling your lungs with breath and notice what you smell.
For me here in the Pacific Northwest,
Living on a little island near the ocean,
There's definitely the smell of dampness,
The smell of rain,
The fresh scent of renewal.
There's also the smell of the neighbor's cooking.
As people are spending more and more time outside and the neighborhood is feeling like it's coming alive again after its winter hibernation.
And then slowly turning your attention to taste.
You might feel around with your tongue on the inside of your mouth and notice if you taste anything.
Or you might even open your mouth and take a huge breath through the mouth.
And maybe there's a little bit of imagination involved,
But can you taste anything in the air?
I love that feeling when you are close to the ocean and you take a breath and you can almost taste and feel the salt in the air and the humidity.
What can you taste?
And then turning your attention to your sense of touch,
Feeling,
Sensation.
What does it feel like for the parts of your body that are contacting the ground or contacting the earth?
Whether you are outside or inside,
You might place your hands down on the ground,
On the earth.
Notice what you feel.
Maybe there's a dampness,
A coolness from the earth.
Maybe you feel a rug under your fingertips and the cool sensation of hardwood or tile.
And then take your hands perhaps onto your legs or onto some part of your body and see what you feel through your hands.
Is there a sensation of warmth?
And if you tune into the subtle sensations of the body,
Can you feel them perhaps moving your hands?
Maybe you feel your pulse.
Or maybe you feel a bit of movement through the fascia,
The connective tissue that wraps your entire body.
And maybe there is something you want to send through your hands to yourself,
Maybe an intention of softness,
Of renewal,
Or perhaps the embodiment of energy and ideas arising as we start to come alive again after winter.
And you might turn your attention of feeling and touch inwards,
Taking a moment of interoception,
Noticing the sensations inside your body.
You might notice somewhere in the body that is feeling cool.
And maybe you notice somewhere that is feeling warm.
And then noticing both spots at the same time.
And slowly blinking your eyes open and taking in our last sense for the day for this meditation of sight.
You might look around and notice what is in motion,
What is still.
If you're outside,
You might notice how many shades of green can you see,
How many textures can you observe.
And taking in this environment around you that is coming alive once again.
And you still might notice remnants of winter,
Of the process of decay.
I love this contrast,
Looking around my yard and seeing new grass and flowers press up through the decay of the leaves from last year,
And how those leaves will help nourish the new plant coming through.
And how two things can exist at once and in a beautiful harmony.
And for me,
I find it really difficult to set intentions for a new year in winter,
When it feels like it is time to hibernate and to slow down.
And if you can relate to this,
Maybe this is a time to start planting some seeds for this coming year.
Or maybe just an intention for the rest of the day.
What seeds are you wanting to plant this year?
Perhaps after you finish this meditation,
Going to write it down on a piece of paper and a journal.
Or maybe sitting with that question and coming back to it when you feel ready.
To close our practice,
We'll bring one hand onto the chest,
One hand onto the belly.
The chin bows to the chest,
The mind bows to the heart.
Thank you so much for slowing down with me.
I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day.
