Gardening for the Heart

I am sharing the beautiful metaphor embedded in the book The Garden Within by Anita Phillips. She envisions our hearts as a garden, describing the heart as needing good soil as a plant does. A child's heart is rich with swale the younger they are the more fertile that soil is; almost any seed planted there will grow. A seed is a living plant in a dormant state. Waiting to release the tiny plant tucked inside doesn't need to be planted to come to life. A seed is not dead; it is only sleeping. Seed awakens, and things start moving in the soil. Equals air and water from the ground into itself, swelling larger and larger until it breaks open. That moment is called germination. In your heart, the moment a word seed germinates is called a belief.

These 'seeds' turn into beliefs that sprout into storylines that can cultivate or strangle a garden, if not tended to lovingly. Anita then reveals that her childhood trauma, which she suffered, planted certain beliefs (seeds). These beliefs, if not properly addressed, can impact the well-being of the landscape.

Anita had a profound spiritual awakening in one of her science classes.

In her book, she links the heart and neuroscience to her spiritual awakening. This is right up my alley. She utilizes both her education and her faith to connect the heart and spirit with scripture. Your heart is a garden; your spiritual life cannot be isolated from your emotional reality. Just as soil can determine the state of the fate of a seed, your heart can determine the state of your spirit. Your heart is a soil where spiritual seeds are planted, and your heart anchors the roots of your mind, your heart nourishes the fruit you produce, and your heart is the soil of your life.

A seed needs only two things to wake itself up, air and water. In the soil of a fertile heart, those words will remain and unleash their full power to bear abundant fruit in your life. In the garden within, air and water are about faith and feelings. A seed needs air to germinate.

But a seed's natural habitat is soil. Good ground is fertile. Fertile soil allows air and water to flow through it. Water's significance for literal gardens teaches us about the role of emotion in the garden within. The relationship between water and emotion is more than a metaphor there's a biological manifestation too. Intense emotions often draw water from our eyes.

Faith makes room for the seed. When a word seed awakens, faith flows through your heart into the seed, but faith is not an emotion. Faith is not a thought either. Its spirit. It's Breath.

Our gardening requires the right tools....

There is both personal and societal trauma, and she bravely speaks of how we are affected by teachings that suggest that our thinking is superior to our feelings or emotions. I have often shared that I have cried my way to Godde and appreciate her saying that the Soil of her heart needed to be watered. This separation of mind and emotion is deeply rooted in our society, and my own experience has shown me the wisdom in recognizing the importance of honouring all of my inner landscape.

Your heart is immeasurably valuable to God. Faith opens your heart to believe.

How is this related to my personal and professional experience?

Bodintuit recognizes the Heart-Spirit connection to the mind. Our minds are fertile ground, and I honour what I am experiencing. I greet, meet, complete, and repeat a process that is deeply healing for my mind, body, and spirit every day. My morning renewal is a foundation for my daily life. I explore the beliefs that emerge from the many stories I write. I then sit with the sensations underneath, allowing the emotions to rise and spill out through my body. When I take the time to reflect in the morning, I am often gifted with a fresh perspective on the situation. Compassion and understanding lead to a reconnection with the heart's love, which is ever-present.

My proverbial garden is filled with beautiful readings and videos with trips to nature and ample opportunities for spaciousness to engage with presence. The garden thrives when I lovingly tend to each plant's mind, body, and spirit.

What is in your garden????