Every Monday and Wednesday I pull an oracle card at the beginning of my yoga class. This week's card was titled 'Water Your Garden'. I'm an avid gardener and after doing a lot of planting and watering these last couple of weeks, this card felt particularly timely and poignant:
WATER YOUR GARDEN
Nourishment. Body Care. Tenderness. Rest.
Earth is a seasonal planet and, as such, you're a seasonal being. Cyclic. You can't be 'on' and in 'full bloom' month after month, day after day. You're strongly being called to put on the brakes, rest, and refuel. To take a moment to restock and replenish, and slow right down.
Your body is the only body you're given, and it needs to be respected as such. You are being called to take responsibility for your wellbeing, to put your health and body first. I know it can feel like time is running out and as if there are urgent things that can't wait. However, if you keep pushing on, soon fatigue will set in.
This way of living isn't sustainable. If anyone continues to race through life, eventually they will reach exhaustion and it will take longer to recover than it would have done to rest. Immune system disorders and mystery illnesses are becoming more common because we're putting too much pressure on our bodies to keep up with the instantaneous pace of modern life.
How are you being called to put on the brakes? To rest, restore and rejuvenate? When was the last time you took a holiday, or had a full weekend, day, or afternoon off? Look after your precious body and mind, Give yourself enough time to recover when you find yourself running on reserves There is enough time. Life will bend toward you when you do.
The card inquiry: What is my body yearning for? How can I give my body what it yearns for?
What I've learned after way too many years of burning the wick from both ends, is it doesn't take much and it doesn't have to cost a thing to tend to ourselves. Instead of waiting for that day off or that big vacation, we can carve out a little bit of time each day or a few times a week to rest, reset and restore. And in fact the smaller the act, the more likely you are to do it and more easily it'll become a habit.
A few years ago I made a commitment to myself that I would take a nap once a week on the weekends. That one nap has now become something I do on a regular basis throughout my whole week. For me taking 20 minutes at the end of my day is the perfect reset and feels like a little treat - a total tending to the garden of both my body and my soul. My hope is you find your own way to take care of yourself and give your garden all the water it needs to flourish and bloom.
Amy Owen
Yoga Instructor + Birth Coach
