Rejoicing in Spring:
Winter Creates the Space of Being.
Robin red-breasts are digging for worms in the greening garden. The magnolias are heavy with purple and cream-colored buds, as cherry blossoms scent the crisp spring air. None of these dharmas are able to come into being, without the cold contraction of Winter.
In the seemingly barren landscape, life withdraws to some secret place, and in so doing, creates the potential for birth and Spring.
Pulling back allows a new reality to flow into experience.
Often we do not trust in the process of creation; operating under the illusion that we must fill up space and time for new things to emerge. We believe that winter is a time of loss and emptiness, and suffer from the illusion that we are involved in the manifestation of Spring (or the next thing we desire).
Yet, the space created by winter’s contraction is the essential ingredient for new life, and the emergence of this wonderful moment into our awareness.
Asking Questions invites Mindfulness
When we ask the questions: Is this the most efficient way?; the healthiest way?; the most earth-friendly way?; the most loving way? We are gently contracting from assumptions and conditioned patterns of thought.
In the space that is created, clarity, new insights and realities emerge; but first, just as Galileo and Isaac Newton before us, we must be willing to give up a narrow, conditioned world view.
Reacting with Aversion
When our relationships are filled with established or rigid patterns of interaction, there is little possibility for healing, growth or love. Forgetful thinking allows experience to fill our conscious awareness completely. We understand ourselves to be one with our thoughts and feelings, as if they were the whole of reality. Hearing something hurtful from a friend, a parent, or a spouse, we may leap to defend ourselves or even to attack the other person. We are filled to the brim with pain.
Contracting Awareness like Winter
When we focus on the breath and contract our awareness to a single point, just as winter contracts; we can invite the seed of mindfulness to come and flower like a gorgeous spring blossom. Insight flows into our spacious awareness and it becomes possible to choose a compassionate and wholesome response.
Breathing in I am aware of the breath filling my body.
Breathing out I experience the space of
no-breath .
Breathing in I invite the cool emptiness of Winter.
Breathing out I open to the infinite possibility of Spring.
Breathing in I invite the seed of mindfulness and compassion.
Breathing out I take good care of my hurt feelings.
Breathing in I intend to act in mindful ways
Breathing out I take good care of my relationships
Breathing in I invite the cool emptiness of Winter.
Breathing out I open to the infinite possibility of Spring.
May this information benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere.
-Ellen Adelman
© Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, all rights reserved.
Mind Body Intelligence tm is a trademark of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute.
For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com.
Winter Creates the Space of Being.
Robin red-breasts are digging for worms in the greening garden. The magnolias are heavy with purple and cream-colored buds, as cherry blossoms scent the crisp spring air. None of these dharmas are able to come into being, without the cold contraction of Winter.
In the seemingly barren landscape, life withdraws to some secret place, and in so doing, creates the potential for birth and Spring.
Pulling back allows a new reality to flow into experience.
Often we do not trust in the process of creation; operating under the illusion that we must fill up space and time for new things to emerge. We believe that winter is a time of loss and emptiness, and suffer from the illusion that we are involved in the manifestation of Spring (or the next thing we desire).
Yet, the space created by winter’s contraction is the essential ingredient for new life, and the emergence of this wonderful moment into our awareness.
Asking Questions invites Mindfulness
When we ask the questions: Is this the most efficient way?; the healthiest way?; the most earth-friendly way?; the most loving way? We are gently contracting from assumptions and conditioned patterns of thought.
In the space that is created, clarity, new insights and realities emerge; but first, just as Galileo and Isaac Newton before us, we must be willing to give up a narrow, conditioned world view.
Reacting with Aversion
When our relationships are filled with established or rigid patterns of interaction, there is little possibility for healing, growth or love. Forgetful thinking allows experience to fill our conscious awareness completely. We understand ourselves to be one with our thoughts and feelings, as if they were the whole of reality. Hearing something hurtful from a friend, a parent, or a spouse, we may leap to defend ourselves or even to attack the other person. We are filled to the brim with pain.
Contracting Awareness like Winter
When we focus on the breath and contract our awareness to a single point, just as winter contracts; we can invite the seed of mindfulness to come and flower like a gorgeous spring blossom. Insight flows into our spacious awareness and it becomes possible to choose a compassionate and wholesome response.
Breathing in I am aware of the breath filling my body.
Breathing out I experience the space of
no-breath .
Breathing in I invite the cool emptiness of Winter.
Breathing out I open to the infinite possibility of Spring.
Breathing in I invite the seed of mindfulness and compassion.
Breathing out I take good care of my hurt feelings.
Breathing in I intend to act in mindful ways
Breathing out I take good care of my relationships
Breathing in I invite the cool emptiness of Winter.
Breathing out I open to the infinite possibility of Spring.
May this information benefit you, those you love, and all sentient beings, everywhere.
-Ellen Adelman
© Ellen M. Adelman PhD 2013, all rights reserved.
Mind Body Intelligence tm is a trademark of Ellen M. Adelman PhD and the Sage Healing Institute.
For more information visit www.sagehealinginstitute.com.