The Well-Gardened Mind is the title of one of the most important books I have read in some time. In it Sue Stuart-Smith investigates the remarkable effects of nature on our health and wellbeing. Many people today are living in a state of disorientation from nature and from one another. We need to rediscover the practice of sitting quietly in a park, a garden, or by a window, and simply being aware of the activity of nature all around us: the changing hues of the sky, the caress of a breeze, the rustle of leaves, and the chorus of bird sounds. We become what we contemplate. When, in a garden or an allotment, we plant a seed in the ground we also plant a narrative of future possibility. Similarly, when we reach out to another person we create the possibility of exchange and sharing. We grow through one another.
Month: August 2024
Repetition
While it is important to set time aside each day to meditate it is even more important to practice saying our mantra, be it a single word or a phrase, at intervals throughout the day, whether we are cleaning our teeth, sitting on the toilet, preparing a meal or waiting in a queue. The repetition acts like a monastery bell summoning us to the Silence within. The mantra also works in another way when we are in an emotional upheaval, or experiencing a setback or challenge; it acts like yeast on the whole of our being, both psychologically and spiritually.