Transformation

Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right. ~Henry Ford

The gardening season has been on for about a month now. I opened The Garden Continuum for the 2010 year on March 15th. It has been wonderful to visit all the gardens we care for to see how they are emerging from the winter. This year I have decided to reach out and connect with clients on a more personal level...something that has been missing for me since 2007 when I suffered a neck injury that took me out of the game for a spell. The reconnection with the people has been the most fun of all. Our clients are fabulous! I am reminded of why we connected in the first place and am inspired by their new stories - both the sad ones and the happy ones.

By revitalizing these connections I am coming away with a feeling of being empowered to keep on in the Landscape Industry. There have been times when I have felt like just hanging up my claw and clipboard and saying Bye Bye to the professional gardening world. Designing and selling jobs alone is not enough to inspire...it is the people and the plants that keep it rich. If you aren't connecting...you aren't inpired. Now, I feel like "Yes, I can do this." Hear the roar of the Garden Warrior!...or something like that.

There is this universal process of manifestation and transformation going on in life and it is crystal clear to see in the garden. One day there is nothing, the next there are buds, then blossom, or shoots then leaves. This is ENERGY that is changed in to MATTER right before our very eyes. It is a testament to the POWER of LIFE. And it reminds me why I love the garden so much. This power is embodied in each of one of us as well. At the area of the SOLAR PLEXUS just under your sternum is the MANIPURA Chakra. This is the fire center of your very essence and has a bright yellow resonant color. It is where you hold your self-esteem and your power of self-actualization.

Plants in this time of year are literally bursting forth announcing their existence and their right to live and grow and flourish in this world. The sun is a perfect symbol of the Manipura energy with its brilliant yellow light, its fire and its heat. Like a magnet it draws life upward into being. Ever notice how when the sun shines, especially when it has been gray or rainy, you feel uplifted? You could be having the worst time of your life, but a moment in the sun can penetrate right through you and draw up the energy of Manipura giving you a boost of positive energy.

So, rather than staying parked behind your computer for eight hours or rushing around day in and day out with out a moment of rest...take a short break next time to see the sun shining. Turn toward that fiery orb, lift your face to receive the light, close your eyes and breathe in slowly and deeply in until your lungs are completely full. Rest for a moment with the breath in you as you feel the heat penetrate your skin. Then slowly release that breath. Repeat at three times. if you can.

This is an exercise of RECEIVING light, CREATING energy within your third chakra, and then RELEASING tension within you. Try it where ever you are and remember the plants in your landscape are doing this exercise every moment of everyday and they are growing, blooming and flourishing...don't you want that for you too? Come on, I know you can do it, you garden warrior!

Happy Gardening!