Hi my adventurous friend,
Are you feeling grounded or untethered? When’s the last time you felt connected to the natural world?
Here are 3 ideas for planting and 1 question to help you dig into your week ahead…
A Seed for Grounding
Place your hands into the soil to feel grounded.
Wade in water to feel emotionally healed.
Fill your lungs with fresh air to feel mentally clear
Raise your face to the heat of the sun and connect with that fire to feel your own immense power.
—Victoria Erickson
Going Gloveless or Going Green?
We spend so much of our lives indoors, tethered to man-made objects that separate us from the natural world. Even the blessing of four walls and a roof over our heads can interfere with nature’s gifts.
This week I invite you to remove the barriers between you and the outdoors. Choose to either “go gloveless” or “go green.”
Go Gloveless: Start by looking at what things get in the way of you connecting with nature. Are you too busy to stop and smell the apple blossoms or lilacs? Are you ignoring your inner child who longs to forget about staying “clean?”
An easy way to connect with nature is to plant something in your garden or in a planter. Feeling brave? Go gloveless. Connect with the dirt…let it sift between your fingers. Marvel at how those clumps of brown support and nurture the plants and trees around you.
Then take a moment to think about the people in your life that support and nurture you. Name the kind souls who feed your life’s roots and values.
If getting dirty is too far out of your comfort zone, try going green.
Go Green: Find a patch of green grass. Take off your shoes and socks. Step barefoot into the grass. Close your eyes and consider what you feel. Is it warm or cool? Do the blades of grass tickle or poke? Can you breathe deep enough to detect its scent? Is it sweet or sharp? What images does it bring to mind?
You can take it a step further (pun intended 😉) by recalling the last time you walked barefoot through the grass. Try it! Walk, run, or skip. Be free for at least 60 seconds.
Experience the feel of grass between your toes and beneath your soles that are too often kept from connecting with nature. Whether you enjoy the grass or not, embrace whatever you feel. Rather than judging the feeling, get curious about it.
What did you choose: gloveless, green or both? Share your experience with a friend who will appreciate your brave and silly adventure.
A Note from My Garden of Life
Every year in the middle of May, I get anxious about my garden.
The garden centers set up enticing displays of vibrant greenery and colorful flowers. Friends talk about planting their gardens and filling their planters. But here in Colorado, the last two weeks in May can be unpredictable. We’ve had summer heat, snow, frost and hail…sometimes in one day!
I worry if I don’t buy my plants early enough I’ll miss out on the best selection or the “perfect” colors. And during the pandemic, the uptick in gardening left a sudden shortage of even the basics. This “shortage” invited me to try some new flowers and plant seeds I’d never sown before—uncertainty became its own special gift.
Every May, I check the weather and wonder if it might be safe to plant earlier this year. Is it worth the risk? My state of mind slips into over-analyzing and I forget the joy gardening brings me. Ugh!
Going out to my garden, breathing in the fresh air, appreciating the green that is already there, and listening to the birds celebrating spring…these are the things that ground me. They remind me that with attention and nurturing, I can get even the smallest plants to grow. I remember to trust the timing of the Divine energy in me and in the shared energy that connects me to all living beings.
What triggered feelings of anxiousness or disconnection in you this week? When we’re aware of these feelings, we can minimize their impact by reconnecting to the physical world through grounding.
I have a grounding challenge for you. Try this more than once this week and let me know how it goes.
Garden Game Challenge:
At some point this week, you will feel anxious, overwhelmed or disconnected. We all experience daily stress, but by grounding ourselves in the present, we can return to a state of calm.
Start by bringing awareness to your breath. Take a deep breath and then follow these five steps:
5 – Acknowledge FIVE things you see around you
4 – Acknowledge FOUR things you can touch near your
3 – Acknowledge THREE things you hear right now
2 – Acknowledge TWO things you can smell
1 – Acknowledge ONE thing you can taste (What does the inside of your mouth taste like—the last thing you ate or drank?)
This is also a great technique to teach children. Sharing your 5-4-3-2-1 list with a child helps them see that adults need grounding too.
1 Question to Help You Dig In
What do you hope to remember most about the present moment?
Thanks for joining me in the garden. If you enjoyed this issue, sign up below to receive my weekly newsletter.
