I want desperately to be a green-thumbed person. My spiritual worldview is largely centered around connectedness to nature. The knowledge that I tend to kill plants makes me feel like some kind of unnatural menace. When someone gives me a plant as a gift, I smile but I’m thinking “No! For the love of God, don’t leave that defenseless living being with me!” I tell the story of the nice plant that I took with me to college. It spent the semester dying and then was brought back to life during the breaks when I brought it home where my mother took care of it. Ironically, I can seem psychic when around my cats, but I’m completely out of sync with plants.
Stories about gardening as a spiritual practice make me determined to give it another try. I plan to put plants around our new house. Not only do I want the pleasure of seeing them, but I know they are good for indoor air quality. I want to have plants around our deck that will attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Perhaps I will start with one indoor plant and try to work up from there. Now that I live near my mother, I will have her visit from time to time to check on the poor little things. Meanwhile I will try to focus on the spiritual practice aspect of garden with hope that in the process I will find myself transformed (or turned slightly greenish in hue). As Terry Hershey would say, I will open my heart to the rhythms of the garden.
~~~
October 22, 2009 by Pamela in
spirituality
View of falls and Liberty Bridge at Falls Park in Greenville, SC.
This year my life has been a whirlwind of challenges and blessings, culminating in our move to Greenville, SC. I’m grateful to live only a short drive from my parents now. It’s interesting to transition back to the East Coast after 18 years in Southern California. I’m excited to get back into the rhythm of the seasons. I’ve been looking forward to walks along the paths in Fall Park. Ironically, I fell and sprained my ankle just a few weeks after we arrived so I have yet to enjoy those walks. I picture myself walking the paths in my mind though as I’m healing!
Another new venture is writing on Examiner.com as the Greenville Spirituality & Wellness Examiner. It will be another chance to write about my favorite topics and I will continue to blog (or return to blogging) on my Well Soul blog just located now at www.wellsoul.net. If I’m lucky I may earn enough from my online writing to pay for some of my seminary textbooks 
Hope the fall season finds you well in body and in spirit.
October 16, 2009 by Pamela in
misc
Since I’m having trouble posting regularly lately, I realized that I should occasionally share what I’m writing in my online class discussions. We recently discussed mourning as a spiritual process of “letting go” and this was my response:
Much of my concept of “letting go” and grieving comes from the health crisis which ended my life as I knew it. Not only did work and school come to an abrupt halt, but I lost my ability to function on a daily basis becoming dependent on my husband for things you take for granted. (Try to pay attention to how often you use your hands.) I became focused on finding meaning in the crisis in spiritual terms. I saw the losses as deaths, and an overall death of my identity. Everything that comprised my self-concept was gone.
I came to see losses as a natural part of the cycle of life that create space and opportunity for something new to grow. Everything I was became fertile ground for the growth or rebirth of my self. It was not ultimately truly lost, but transformed. Perhaps like the butterfly, we must be willing to let go of ourselves, trusting that is a necessary part of making way for the new life to come. I see life as a process of allowing parts of our lives to die, to make way for the new. I think that if we are stuck holding on to and maintaining what is, we become rigid and closed to the unknown miracles life has to offer. Even in our breathing, we must release the air with our out breath trusting that more will come in the next breath in.
Lately I have been feeling grateful for how effortless my exercise habits have become. They are purposefully modest ones. My focus has been on making exercise pleasurable and doable. Now it is usually a matter of when, rather than if, I’m going to exercise. I’m especially happy that when I get stressed out my reaction is to want to get outside and go for a walk. I still dream of consistently attending dance classes or doing one of my longer DVD’s, but most days I manage to do the AM workout from 7 Minutes of Magic in addition to my walk.
Although I’m usually looking forward to my walks, I still have days that I struggle with resistance. Yesterday was one of those days. I just did not want to go and an internal conversation ensued. “I don’t want to go.” “Walking is good for you.” “Missing one day is no big deal.” “You know you’ll feel better once you get out there.” “It’s cold.” “Dress warm, besides walking will warm you up.” “I don’t know.” “Just go!” In the end I went because over time, I had developed faith in my walking practice. That I would feel better after I got out there.
I knew I just had to get over the hurdle of walking out the door. I didn’t need to commit to any length of time or other goal. Just out the door. Down the block. And sure enough my mood lifted and my body celebrated an opportunity to move. Having segmented walking routes helps me take longer walks. I only need to plan to do the smaller segment and then usually end up adding additional segments after I realize how good it feels to be out walking. Last night I went out with the freedom to do a short walk but along the way made choices that resulted in a respectable 30-minute walk.
Freedom. Pleasure. Choice. A far cry from the tortured treadmill walking I used to do at a gym. My instinct to stay away from “discipline” focused exercise has been the right thing for me. Instead of thinking of exercise as something I need to force myself to do, I look forward to it. Then on the days that my mood gets in the way of remembering how good it feels, I can have faith that the practice will remind me.
One of my favorite spiritual practices is walking a labyrinth. I was introduced to it years ago at a New Year’s Eve candlelight labyrinth walk. I’ve been hooked ever since and would do it more often if we had an accessible one nearby. On Sunday we put out our fabric one (similar to the picture) for the Sunday morning service. I’m the Chair of our Spiritual Practices Council which planned the service. I was the main speaker and my sermon was titled: “Finding Your Center in the Midst of Chaos.” After the service one of our congregation members, psychology professor Dr. Robert Thayer, came up to me and we talked about walking the labyrinth in relation to his research. He was familiar with labyrinths but it was his first time actually walking one.
Since I’m drowning in reading for my studies right now, I was glad to find this article in Spirituality & Health magazine by Stephen Kiesling that summarizes Dr. Thayer’s work (also here with pictures).
“The best and most reliable way to improve your mood is to take a brisk, ten-minute walk. No kidding. If you are in a bad mood (and perhaps semiconsciously craving a sugar snack, a call to a friend, a trip to the mall, a cigarette, a cup of coffee, a shot of tequila, or whatever) the most reliable way to immediately start to feel better is to take a brisk walk. Taking a walk may not come to mind as the best choice, but the research says that it is best.”
Through my own experience I discovered the importance of walking in terms of health and stress-relief. Dr. Thayer gives us specific language which describes states of energy and tension that work together for optimum happiness and effectiveness. Not surprisingly, high energy and low tension is the best combination. In the next article, Kiesling makes a more direction connection to spiritual practices such as walking a labyrinth.
“The beauty of Robert Thayer’s mood research is that it is so firmly grounded by the documented experience of thousands of people. He can say with authority that the best ways to improve mood are to take a walk or talk to a friend or meditate or pray. Meanwhile, other researchers, such as James Rippe, M.D., at the University of Massachusetts, have expanded on that work to test combinations: Are walking meditation, prayer-walking, and mindful exercises such as Tai Chi more effective at boosting energy and reducing tension than walking alone? The answer, not surprisingly, is yes. Combining prayer or mindfulness with walking turns out be a “double dip” of happiness.”
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I want desperately to be a green-thumbed person. My spiritual worldview is largely centered around connectedness to nature. The knowledge that I tend to kill plants makes me feel like some kind of unnatural menace. When someone gives me a plant as a gift, I smile but I’m thinking “No! For the love of God, don’t leave that defenseless living being with me!” I tell the story of the nice plant that I took with me to college. It spent the semester dying and then was brought back to life during the breaks when I brought it home where my mother took care of it. Ironically, I can seem psychic when around my cats, but I’m completely out of sync with plants.
Stories about gardening as a spiritual practice make me determined to give it another try. I plan to put plants around our new house. Not only do I want the pleasure of seeing them, but I know they are good for indoor air quality. I want to have plants around our deck that will attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Perhaps I will start with one indoor plant and try to work up from there. Now that I live near my mother, I will have her visit from time to time to check on the poor little things. Meanwhile I will try to focus on the spiritual practice aspect of garden with hope that in the process I will find myself transformed (or turned slightly greenish in hue). As Terry Hershey would say, I will open my heart to the rhythms of the garden.
