I love to garden. Spring is such a beautiful time of year for me and I think we can all agree that Spring, and its associated Easter season, brings us into a space of renewal and growth.
As I head out to the garden with my packets of seeds, I often find myself thinking about the sacred metaphor that seeds hold for me: growth, potential, and change. I am also reminded of the need to nurture that growth and potential. If we plant seeds and don’t attend to them daily, they will surely wither and die. But if we water, and weed, and take care of the seeds they will respond by giving us opportunities to watch them flourish. With care, they grow and bloom into vibrant, fragrant flowers and delicious, colorful vegetables that nourish our bodies and souls. Seeds truly represent beauty rising from mother earth.
Seeds contain the power of creation.
We also have the ability to plant sacred seeds of growth and potential within ourselves, and watch them blossom and grow.
Having vision for our life is very much like planting a seed. Whether we are a burned-out nurse in a job we hate; or a tired, overwhelmed mom/caregiver… maybe we are lonely and looking for companionship, or suffering grief after a loss – whatever we wish for ourselves can be brought forth if we are clear about what seeds we plant within. We can plant seeds of happiness, seeds for companionship, seeds of worthiness and self-compassion, or seeds for love. The soil must be primed and ready to receive the seed, however, so we must be mindful of our daily attendance to whatever we sow – once we plant seeds of the life or state we desire, we must diligently tend to them in order to see them blossom into reality.
“Seeds are the only genuine promise we have of the future,” wrote prominent nun and activist Sister Joan Chittister. “In every seed,” she wrote, “is the gift of life to those seeking life, wanting life, denied the kind of life that is full of energy, full of hope.”
What do horses and art have to do with this? Horses help us explore our creative heart and uncover the truth of the internal seeds we wish to sow. By helping us relax and move into the moment, the horses give us precious space to fully connect with who we are, and who we want to become. In our sacred heart space, we are free to explore endless possibilities.
By guiding us to recapture our own unique beauty and energy of hope, the horses help us explore our creativity and plant the seeds of our potential. This is the beginning of a profound journey. As we nurture these seeds (the possibilities of our future selves); and keep the soil (our body and mind) fertile through attention and visualization, we use Art as a trellis, or scaffolding, to support the tender shoots of our new selves as they grow.
Just as plants encounter challenges with inclement weather, or bugs that like to eat them, our new life vision will be challenged. That is why it is important to have a visual reminder to bring us back to the emotional state our vision invokes. These images we are drawn to – or that we create, expressing our vision – are like plant food added to the soil: they fuel our body, mind and soul with the feelings they evoke in us.
As we embark on this journey, the horses inspire the cultivation of a new vision by helping us relax into our creativity. Using the Equine Gestalt Coaching Method® developed by Melisa Pearce – a beautiful approach to coaching, co-facilitated by our horses – we lose the voice of “I can’t” and move into a new voice of “I can”. We are transported and transformed in a space of possibility. Truly, we can fly in this space – I have seen some magnificent and joyful pieces of art created in the presence of the herd. Once the seed of a new vision is planted, our art and coaching help to develop tools we can use to tend to the mind, body and soul, that will help keep the vision alive as we watch it grow into our beautiful, new, future selves.
What seeds do you wish to plant today?
In joy and growth~ Vivian, Luca and Skye Mama