It doesn’t get better than this – a Sunday morning on a long weekend and the sun is bright, the clouds are drifting, the breeze is cool. The birds are singing their songs of celebration and good fortune, tulips are opening and the spring colours and smells are delighting the senses. Carlie and Rayna have had their walk, eaten breakfast and are joyously chewing bones out on the porch. I join them on the porch with my tea, taking in the sun and simply enjoying the simplicity and perfection of the moment.
I reflect on the importance of this moment of just hanging out with my dogs, with Nature and my cup of tea. I feel calm, relaxed and happy. I notice that Spring is in perfect relationship with itself. The flowers are in perfect relationship with each other. I am free to sit and be without worrying or focusing on what I ‘should’ be doing or will be doing the rest of the day. It’s a moment of being in right relationship with me. I bask in this moment and experience a wonderful sense of gratitude and inner harmony that I know will influence the rest of the day.
Today is a simple morning, not cluttered with extraneous mental thoughts or worries or tensions or activities about what needs to get done. It is a moment that arose out of being present in the moment and a softening to the fluidity of the moment’s dance. Being present to the moment opened the door for me to experience right relationship with myself, to create peaceful relationship with me!
You may already have your ways of practising peaceful relationship with yourself, but let me share some of the steps I took that created the environment and synergy of peaceful relationship with myself:
- Meditation as my first way to greet and celebrate the day.
- A moment of self healing to strengthen my intention and seek Divine sustenance for a resilient attitude for the day.
- A prayer for all sentient beings that each may experience peace, health, happiness and abundance this day.
- Because I like structure and focus, I make a reasonable and heart-centred list of what I want to accomplish each week. (And since I had this list planned going into the weekend, I could let go of any stress thoughts because I trust the flow and intention of the day).
- With Carlie, I have learned to go for a walk as soon as I get up, even before we eat breakfast. I attend also to my body and the rhythms that need to be awakened for the day.
- I allow space in my day for Spirit to ‘show up’ and ‘commune’ with me in whatever way is needed.
I know that as I practise these early morning habits of being in connection with Spirit, myself and Carlie, the rest of the day’s interactions are more harmonious and happy. I’m starting my day with the power of vital energy and the ease of Universal Harmony.
I recognize that not every day gets to have these moments of sitting and basking in the peaceful moment of a perfect spring day, late into the morning. However, I also know that when I lack the discipline to practise these spiritual habits in a morning, I have to work harder that day to sustain the ease of a resilient and positive attitude and harmonious connections. Why work that hard when all it takes is for me to get up in time to practise these habits and anchor peacefulness into my mind and heart?
Like they say, work smarter, not harder!
I’m a firm believer of writing down our insights, our thoughts and beliefs, our feelings and the general flow of what is happening in our internal life. It reveals so much of what is hidden to us … it reveals our soul and the blocks to our soul.
This year for me is about creating peaceful relationships and I have invited you on this journey through stories and insights about what can support our path to such relationships. I will speak more about right relationship with self and the evening practice, but for this week, I invite you to write out your habits that promote and sustain right and peaceful relationship with yourself.
We are shortly stepping into the last half of the year. If you want to actually start creating peaceful relationships rather than just wishing for them, commit to a habit and start practising. And if you need help getting started to promote your own inner peace, I encourage you to set up an appointment with me and let’s get you moving forward.
Here’s to the perfect modelling of right relationship with self … thank you SPRING!
Namaste,
Shirley Lynn Martin