Planting Seeds of Love
and a meditation for you
(I read this piece below, and further down is a short guided meditation along the same theme.)
Coming home is a journey of remembering sacredness whenever we realise we’ve forgotten. One way we remember is by directly experiencing the relaxation, groundedness, awakeness, aliveness and spaciousness of this great mystery that I’m calling sacredness.
The more we practise, the more we are able to rest in these qualities regardless of outer conditions. It’s possible to be at ease in the midst of dis-ease. It’s possible to remain grounded in the midst of fear. It’s possible to be present in the midst of distraction. It’s possible to be receptive in the midst of attack. And it’s possible to be expansive in the midst of overwhelm.
To experience this directly is radically freeing.
We begin to know that although life inevitably moves between ease and disease, comfort and discomfort, it’s possible to remain in the restful reverence of sacredness regardless. Most importantly, it’s possible to act from this place, so that we plant seeds of Love in the world, whatever the conditions.
Inevitably, there will be times that we forget this, even with practice and support. But without practice and support, we will forget this more often. This matters, because in our forgetfulness, we react from fear, rather than act with Love. Blending and identifying with the one afraid, distracted, attacked and overwhelmed, we react by demanding, defending or escaping.
All of this leads to suffering.
Suffering is what we experience when we believe and invest in our collective story of separation. Getting what we want regardless of its impact, as if we were separate from the whole. Grasping at what we have, as if it weren’t already slipping through our fingers. And fighting or running from what we don’t like, as if it weren’t also worthy of respect.
We suffer, because when we physically, psychologically or emotionally pollute our environment, we breathe in that pollution too. We suffer, because holding on, pushing away and escaping in a universe that is inseparably connected, changing and sacred, can only leave us depleted, contracted and collapsed.
And yet: suffering is also sacred. It is not an accident or a curse. It’s a messenger showing us that we’ve lost our way. Showing us that we’re lost in a story of separation.
So, suffering also invites us to come home.
Like a wave which only pauses from its restless search for the ocean when the contraction and collapse of that search finally invites it to surrender… we, too, are learning to pause in the midst of our reactivity for long enough to come home.
We, too, pause to bring our attention back into the body. To feel the places of contraction and collapse, and breathe into them, turning towards them and softening around them. To unhook from the stories of blame, shame, right, wrong, fixing, comparing and judging, for long enough to feel this tender human heart, with love.
Just as, pausing, the wave sinks back into the ocean, to rise again with a remembrance of its vastness and grace… we, too, are returned to sacredness when we remember to embrace this moment with love. And returned to sacredness, we, too, are liberated to respond to the challenges of this moment with Love’s vastness and grace.
So when we come home to sacredness, we plant seeds of Love.
And when we plant seeds of Love, it is Love which grows in the world.
I hope you can join me on this journey. The next workshop is March 25; the next retreat is May 20-26; for more information you can read below. Also below is a short guided meditation inviting you to plant seeds of love, right now in this moment.
Guided meditation: planting seeds of love
Workshop
I am excited to be seeing many of you at Love Supreme Projects next Saturday March 25th from 1.30-4.30pm!
With a long, slow yoga and meditation practice, we will come home to ourselves. From this direct experience of ease, safety, aliveness and vastness, we will discover how it’s possible to remain here, in sacredness, even in each other’s presence. Letting go, letting be and in love. More information here.
Feedback from the workshop on February 25th: "You have a remarkable ability to create an environment where huge shifts can happen." ~ "Brought me back to life" ~ "A beautiful workshop" ~ "Extraordinary and brilliant!" ~ "Thank you for the magic, I can still feel it this morning in the 'air' we are breathing together" ~ "So much more than I hoped for"
Retreat
The next retreats are May 20-26 in Devon, and October 9-15 in France.
Join us for a magical dive into deep homecoming, remembrance and return for 5 full days of yoga, meditation, ceremony, contemplation, intimacy and celebration in the extraordinary retreat centres of Sharpham House and Le Moulin de Chaves. This is where real transformation happens. Retreats feed and nourish us for the rest of the year. More information here.
Feedback from retreats: “Thank you for the beautiful gift of this retreat. Words can't translate what this week has been for me” ~ “I’m bursting with love and joy and gratitude. I feel so blessed to have been there” ~ And for an in depth description of her experience, read the wonderful Eleanor Mills from Noon describe her retreat last November here.
Beautiful, and so true. With these practices, I’m better able to dip in and out of that state of sacredness, whereas without them I know I’d never reside there! And sometimes it’s just a tiny dip in, in the midst of busyness or challenge, but still, I know it’s there, which is potent.