Guided Meditation #1: Tending the Inner Life
Our hearts irrigate this earth. We are fields before each other. ~Daniel Ladinsky
My inner life is an open field that embodies the complete cycle of life – preparing, tilling, planting, nurturing, tending, harvesting, celebrating, and resting. Some seasons bring more challenges, incessant weeds, heavy storms, scorching sun that directly impact the health and vitality of my soul. None of these seasons and conditions surprise me, and I know there are no surprises to the Giver of Seasons.
To some degree I’ve tended to my inner life, honoring the seasons and the fruitfulness of others. But today the question begs, “How is it with my soul?”
Where am I in that cycle of life? What is the field condition of my soul today?
What seeds have I planted into the field? What seeds have I allowed others to plant? What do I hope will sprout from the planting?
What does the ground beg for in order to become whole and healthy?
How have I acknowledged or grieved a failed harvest in the past?
How would I like to celebrate a bountiful harvest?
I gently release the metaphor imagery of fields and harvest. Using concrete language for the reality of my soul I see what is true. What word or phrase remains? I write the word or phrase on a blank card or piece of paper.
I give the word space to exist in its own right unencumbered by other words or thoughts. I allow the word to bear the weight of its truth.
I receive this word as gift, and I close my meditation with gratitude.
Share you thoughts or journal expressions with a trusted friend. Or invite the friend to meditate and journal along with you for the next five days. Your comments on this meditation can encourage others to tend to their inner life as well.
