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Soften
“A flower cannot be opened with a hammer.” Daniel Meade
I read this beautiful poem, called “If You Would Grow”, to my yoga class a few days ago. I then asked the participants, during the meditative part of our class, to look at a place in their life where they were currently being hard on themselves. The class was asked to notice the thoughts and emotions they were having regarding this situation. They were then guided to drop their attention into their heart and look at the situation from there. As the meditation progressed, the class was encouraged to soften their words towards themselves and to notice any energetic changes around the situation. After this, they were guided to visualize playing the situation forward, coming from this new warmer, softer place. Many people came up after class to tell me about the transformation that occurred. Our conditioned, repetitive minds can batter us at times. Dropping deeply into the heart will give you a fresh perspective and thus create a new experience of the situation. Give it a try!
If you would grow to your best self Be patient, not demanding Accepting, not condemning Nurturing, not withholding Self-marveling, not belittling Gently guiding, not pushing and punishing For you are more sensitive than you know Mankind is as tough as war yet delicate as flowers We can endure agonies but we open fully only to warmth and light And our need to grow Is as fragile as a fragrance dispersed by storms of will To return only when those storm are still So, accept, respect, and attend your sensitivity A flower cannot be opened with a hammer. By: Daniel F. Mead