Co-Creative Mentoring LLC Sheryl Harrell, MAA.B.S., EFT Cert.
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Joyful Endurance: Lessons From the Garden

8/31/2020

 
No matter who we are or what we have gone through or will go through, there is within us this possibility of growth. Of change, clarity, love, and connection.
                                                                            Sharon Salzberg
It’s the final stretch of the summer, and autumn is on the

horizon. Are you looking forward to the change of season? A

new season means a fresh start … so let’s celebrate you, your

hopes, and your fears.


As the Great Mandala begins its final turn toward autumn, I

hope you're  finding opportunities for inner and outer

adventures. August 1st marked the mid-point of the summer

season. In some cultures, this is a traditional time for celebrating

the beginning of harvest season. It's also powerful time to look

at what you planted and what you’re cultivating this year.

Remember in January when you created your Vision 2020?

Remember all the hard work you put into planting your vision in

the spring, just like planting seeds in a garden? Now, that hard

work is beginning to bear fruit--literally and figuratively.


The sun is at its hottest this time of year. Where we are in

Colorado, we're approaching a record number of days in the

90s. The sun is ripening the fruit on the trees and the plants in

the garden. All of nature is opening to the sun. Our garden is

overflowing with flowers and veggies (can you spell all things

"zucchini" ?). I think this year’s garden is particularly abundant

because the summer sun has been, and still is, fiery hot, active,

energetic and bold. It's helping to ripen everything we planted in

the spring. The same thing is happening within each of us (the

winter dreams and spring intentions we planted, and we’ve been

tending and growing all summer).

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I love knowing that even if I didn’t plant a garden or have the

opportunity to be outside, I’m not separate from nature and the

natural world. Each season has its own unique energy. Whether

we’re aware of it or not, each season has a profound effect on

us mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  

As we move from summer to autumn, the seasonal energy

encourages us to grow and thrive. When you see all the

abundant growth, and energy in the world around you, in the

gardens, in nature--even if you don't see it for yourself –it’s still

happening within right now. What did you envision for 2020?

What are you tending and nurturing? What have you been

working hard to cultivate so far this year?




Using seasonal Co-Creative Mandalas as the foundation and a

tool for understanding how nature and the current season

influences our lives, this blog looks at the effects the changing

seasons have on our journeys of personal growth and spiritual

evolution, and  how we can use the Co-Creative Mandala and

seasonal energy to support transformation in our lives. And

when your inner life is in tune with the natural rhythms  of the

seasons, it puts you deeply in tune with your most authentic self

and your life purpose.



The sun gives us a lot of clarity right now...about the work we're

doing, and what inspires and motivates  us. This is the time to

open to the life-giving power of the sun and allow the vision you

imagined at the New Year, the seeds you planted in the spring

and cultivated all summer, to ripen. Which can sometimes be

hard to see.  It can be a little scary, too. What if the seeds I

planted didn’t germinate, didn’t survive? What if all the hard

work over the past few months doesn’t bring the results I

intended? You may not think you have anything growing in your

inner garden or the vision you had for yourself at the New Year

has changed. What you set out to accomplish in January and

planted in the spring--may have shifted.  Check in and make

sure you're directing the energy toward what you want to grow.

Can you name what you've been nurturing and tending? Look

into your inner landscape--what have you been working hard to

grow?  Make sure you're still directing your energy in the places

you want to see growth and change.  Do you need to change

that direction? I know my Vision 2020 is different now from my

intentions in January.   A shift in perspective opens me to the

realization that simply being a human being living through the

past few months, living through the uncertainties and upheaval ,

has caused me to stretch and grow in unimaginable ways. It's

sometimes difficult or impossible to predict what will grow from

the seeds we plant. I so appreciate Debbie Millman's “Love

Letters to What You Hold Dear” video series. The first one--“A

Love Letter to My Garden”
--reminds me that even the tiniest

seed produces amazing results.


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As the seasonal wheel subtly turns, the daylight hours are

getting shorter, the nighttime temperatures are cooling. It's not

uncommon to feel out of sorts as we transition from summer to

autumn. With this year's summer sun burning so HOT, your

mind, body, and spirit may feel worn out because of it. This is

the perfect time to pause and check in with yourself. How are

you feeling? Are you getting enough rest?



Go ahead... invest in yourself by pausing and appreciating the

work that's gone into tending all the seeds you planted. Create

space for honoring your process and all the work you've put into

your personal growth so far this year.  During the whole, entire

growing season we've been up against uncertainty. It's

important to recognize how hard you've been working. Even if

you don't see the fruit of your labors--trust that unbelievable

harvests will come from all your efforts. Even if you don't see

that YET--the universe has been working intensely for you.

Celebrate that you’re still showing up. Day after day, you’re

giving your reasonable best to yourself and others.   




My garden reminds me of this truth: We can bloom. We can

endure AND thrive. We can be joy and bring joy.



Simple lessons from the garden:


  Be patient and trust that everything we're tending will come in

its own Divine timing. We can't rush the harvest. Trust that you

put in the work, tending your garden--and all will come to fruition

at the perfect time, in the perfect way.




  Take action: Your intentions for the things you want to grow

need forward action. What steps can you take this month to

move those things closer to harvest? Does the garden need

water? Does it need weeding? Does it need to be nourished and

fed?



  Protect and nurture the seeds you've planted.  With loving

care for the seeds you planted, you will experience expansive

growth.



  Growth takes work. With perseverance, you nurture what you

want to grow in your life.



  Rest: Find the balance between working hard and resting--so

as not to burn yourself out. Rejuvenate, refresh, recharge every

day.



  Notice:  Without trying to change things. Simply using your

mind without pushing. That allows you to accept what is.




The Co-Creative Mandala below—“Joyful Endurance”—from a

photograph of a swallow tail butterfly and a zinnia reminds us of

transition and endurance.  The butterfly is one of the most

symbolic animals regarding the power of personal

transformation. The black and yellow butterfly meaning is

representative of cycles and tides. It relates to the end of one

thing and the beginning of something new, like a wave on the

beach pulling one rock into the sea as it leaves another behind.

The zinnia flower symbolizes endurance. Zinnias are happy to

grow in the boiling, hot sun, in poor soil, and under harsh

conditions. They are prolific bloomers until the first frost. I think

the zinnia flower’s message is that setbacks are only temporary,

the heat of the moment will pass, and you will be able to move

graciously through any obstacles to get to your goal.  The

benevolent rays of the sun will shine down on you again.


Picture
...there will be an increasing need for those who can stand

strong...who can stand in calmness and in Light...points of

grounding who can also be tall in the Light, trees well-

rooted in the soil but with branches drawing in the

sustaining light of the sun


                                                                  
David Spangler


Joyful Endurance Exercise


In this simple, yet powerful exercise, I invite you to celebrate

"Joyful Endurance" and make a connection between yourself 

and the presence of the elements around you. Each connection

is a strand of blessing. The following exercise is adapted from

David Spangler's Web Weaving exercise I learned in a class

taught by friend and colleague Rue Hass.



Give yourself plenty of time without interruptions to dive deeply

into this exercise. Meditate, journal, create and bless your

sacred space.



Make this exercise your own. Invest your time and attention.


Don’t rush.


As you sit quietly in your space, light a candle that welcomes

"Joyful Endurance". What does "Joyful Endurance" mean to

you?



Close your eyes. Bring your awareness to your breath; just be

with your breath. Take a deep breath in. Breathe out. Take

another deep breath in. Breathe out. Notice the sensations as

you exhale—without judgement.  Feel the body breathing. Bring

your body into stillness.



Open your eyes and bring your attention to the mandala; allow

the mandala energy to fill your heart; be with whatever is there.

Invest a few minutes toward allowing the “Joyful Endurance”

energy to flow to
and through your body.  Imagine that energy

bursting through your crown chakra and extending far into the

heavens

.

Imagine the “Joyful Endurance” energy flowing through you

and down deep into the earth. Imagine it radiating from your

heart and extending out in front of you and behind you. Imagine

the “Joyful Endurance” energy is a radiant ball that encircles

you.



Now, sit with this energy for a few minutes.


What about the mandala captures your attention?


Notice and Wonder--Something in me is feeling...


I wonder what it wants me to know?


Relax into your body and its quietness. Be with the energy, be


present, listen


.

Bring our attention once again to the mandala. Feel the

connection, partner with the mandala. Imagine a ribbon or

strand of Light between you and the mandala.  This strand is a

carrier of your goodwill, love, and blessings to the mandala, the

co-creation of a partnership.



*Spin a strand of Light between you and all the minerals that

you see, the rocks and stones, brick, and mortar that are in your

environment. This strand is a carrier of your goodwill, love, and

blessings to the minerals.



*Spin a strand of Light between you and anything made out of

wood. Track back through the life of that wood, its native forest,

the hands that created it in this shape, the story it holds.



*Spin a strand of Light between you and any other things that

humans have created with their conscious and unconscious

imagination, love, and purpose. This strand is a carrier of your

goodwill, love, and blessings.



*Spin a strand of Light between you and any animals, insects,

other material lives that may be present.



*Spin a strand of Light between you and any plants that are

present. This strand is a carrier of your goodwill, love, and

blessings to this space.



*Honor and inwardly bow to yourself, spinning a strand of Light,

goodwill, love, and blessings into and throughout your body and

all the stories that are held in it, weaving a loving connection

across space and time.



*Weave all your strands into the larger web of light of the love

and blessings of the Sacred; the universal web of life is

perpetually emerging toward manifesting wholeness, goodwill

and mutual support.



You can do this exercise anywhere and at any time, particularly

times when you want to bring more calmness and loving

presence to your awareness.  Our personal energy is part of the

larger, interdependent energy fields found in our communities,

the land, and the planet as a whole.  Recognizing that we are

part of a larger whole and acting to benefit the world around us

is a vital way to keep our energy flowing, healthy, and

connected.



Take good care of yourself. You know how…


Peace and joy to your seeking heart,


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    Author

    Sheryl Harrell, Gardener
    of the Soil and of the
    Soul & Co-Creator of
    Mandalas. Happy you
    found my Blog!

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