Hello and Happy New Year, dear ones!
Today is a new day, we just celebrated a new year and a new decade, but instead of setting New Year’s resolutions, I find myself meditating and reflecting these last two weeks on the quality of growth. Growth as in personal growth, spiritual growth; as in intentions and practices that nurture both myself and my community of family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, students and teachers.
For me, one of the greatest symbols of growth is a plant. What would it feel like to see myself as a growing plant? Would I be more compassionate? What environment and what conditions do I need to create and tend to, so that this plant will grow into its true potential? Would I be more patient with myself and others? Would I be more detached from my daily to-do-lists and more in tune with the overall picture of life? Would I feel more in touch with what is happening to our planet?
Often we create so much pressure at the beginning of the year to make certain things happen. And yet the real question that needs to be asked is: How can we use this body, our mind and our soul to fulfill this higher intention, to know that we have purpose and that we can grow daily like a plant?
I always refer to my husband as having a " green thumb". He really knows how to nurture and take care of his plants whether they live on a 3-acre property or in pots on a patio. He tends to them DAILY, without fail, with great patience and with the humility that these plants grow, not because of him, but due to the gifts from the Divine Creator like the earth, the sun and the element of water.
And here I come back again to a theme that I have covered many times before: daily practice. This is the power of a daily practice (like meditation, prayer, yoga, tai chi, etc): that we are able to reflect at a given moment on how we have grown or how we envision ourselves growing into compassionate, kind and generous people, who care for all peoples and our earth, because we have been given all we need already! We just need to show up!
To showing up every day :)
To learn more about a daily routine as understood by Ayurveda, come join me in my Ayurvedic Yoga classes, offered every Friday morning (9:15 - 10:30 am) at Triangle Yoga.
I look forward to seeing you also at my Restorative Yoga class (every Thursday) at Triangle Yoga from 6 -7:15 pm for a delicious deep relaxation.
Blessings on your new year,
Nasim