Settle into your space.
Feel the ground beneath your feet or your seat supporting you.
You are grounded and rooted in this space.
As you take a deep breath in,
Lift your shoulders up,
Back,
And down like you're taking off a really heavy backpack.
This backpack has all the things that came before and all the things yet to come,
But you can set it down for now because right now you have nothing else to do and nowhere else to be but here in this meditation.
As the weather slowly starts to warm and the days get longer,
Our thoughts turn more to nature,
To the gardens we want to plant,
The yard work that needs to be started again,
To spending more time outside on pleasurable activities.
Spring is a season of hope where we know nature will arise from the quiet and darkness of winter.
Birds start their return migration,
Animals end their hibernation and start looking for mates.
Tadpoles appear in ponds and we start to see butterflies as the first flowers appear.
With a new year we also plant many seeds of hope,
Resolutions and goals for health,
Body,
Mind,
Work,
And relationships.
Even if we have stalled on these dreams,
Spring reminds us that we have a chance to start anew.
Goals,
Hopes,
And wishes,
However,
Are merely seeds planted in poor soil.
Without food and water,
The seeds will not germinate.
Take a slow deep breath in and a deep breath out and if your mind has wandered,
Bring it back to thoughts of spring and your hopes and wishes for the year.
There are many kinds of seeds within us,
Good and bad.
What seeds are you spending the most time cultivating?
Seeds of patience,
Presence,
And healing?
Or seeds of desire to satisfaction and restlessness?
The seeds that we nurture spread and grow,
Like plant seeds scattering on the spring breeze.
If you were preparing your spring garden,
You would be clearing out the old dead plants,
Weeds,
And vines to make room for new growth.
You would be turning over the soil,
Adding nutrients to prepare the best possible home for your seeds to grow.
What old clutter do you need to clear to make room for growth?
Grudges,
Worries about past failures,
Self-doubt,
Fear?
Welcome these feelings and then let them go,
Washing away as if in a spring rain.
Which of your beneficial seeds needs to be nurtured with mindfulness?
What does the soil of your mind need to grow those seeds?
More compassion?
Less judgment?
Practicing mindfulness,
Noticing and accepting where you are today is the food and water that will help your beautiful seeds grow into perfect spring flowers.
If you plant your spring garden and the plants grow poorly,
You do not blame the plant,
But instead look for what could be hindering the plant from thriving.
If the seeds you have planted are not flourishing,
Reflect on what your hindrances might be.
Know that everything you need for these seeds to grow is already inside you.
As you breathe in,
Imagine you are expanding as a small seedling opens up as it reaches towards the sun.
Expand your chest,
Your side body,
Your back body with these deep breaths in.
As you breathe out,
Feel the air gently blow out your nostrils like a whisper of wind tickling the leaves of a plant.
Again,
A deep,
Expansive,
Opening breath up and in and a slow,
Gentle,
Whispering breath out.
You are perfect and you are powerful.
Allow the energy,
Light,
And beauty of spring to revitalize you.
Take one final deep,
Expansive,
Opening breath in and a slow,
Gentle,
Whispering breath out.
Gently come back to your space.
Namaste.
