Seeds of Intension

Since I started to grow plants from seed I have been completely fascinated by this process, and by how much of that can be related to Yoga (can’t everything else?).

If i buy a packet of seeds and leave them in the packet, they will continue to be seeds but the potential that lives inside of them, will continue to lie dormant and will never be manifested.

If i take the same seeds and sow them in a sunny place but never tend to it, the potential might continue to be unmanifested.  It might have sun and soil but nothing to initiate and maintain growth.

If i do the same and also add water but i don't remove any weeds or anything that the wind brings, i might be giving it the right conditions (in theory) but that work is in vain if i am not going to all remove the obstacles to its growth.

But if i place this seed in the right soil, with the right light and water, and remove (or not add) any obstacles to its growth, something truly magic happens! The seed, supported by the right conditions, will become what has always been its potential. I believe the same happens with our intentions, usually an important part of a yoga practice.

Let’s say I want to be more present, but this is all I do: a fleeting moment of wanting something to be different and expecting that seed to grow inside the packet, I am not even present enough to remember I had to take it out of the packet.

Or I might set this intention a little more seriously. I know I must sow it, so I do, but I leave it on the windowsill and never come back. I am not present enough to remember I am supposed to water it and feed it.

Or it might be that I understand that this seed needs not just the soil, but the water, the sun. this seeds needs to be nurtured and nourished. So I do all of those things, and for a while I am cultivating more presence, I add more mindfulness to my life, I meditate more, I slow down. And this seed starts to grow so well that Its now time to a bigger pot. And I continue to water it (to add presence and mindfulness to my life) but I never remove weeds or stones or anything that the wind has dragged there. I am doing the right things but I am still engaging with all the things that deplete the seed. This might look like committing to a 10min meditation every morning but spending the entire day on auto-pilot, immersed in distractions, in self-deprecation.  I might water the seed 10min a day, but the weeds are growing for 23.50h a day and I can’t keep up. Soon, the plant will be depleted and the water is actually nourishing the weeds, not the plant.

Disclaimer: I know close to nothing about growing plants and very little about Yoga, so don’t take it from me, try it yourself! A wonderful way to start this process is with a regular practice of Yoga Nidra, so HERE'S a new one for you! But remember that act of setting an intension, though very crucial, is not what brings sustainable growth. It’s the tending to the seed and its nourishment in our daily lives and in the small moments – it’s not giving all the water we can pour into it and walking way, but committing to the daily nourishment and protection of our intensions and to make sure we are watering the plants and not the weeds!

Reflection questions:

• what do i want to cultivate?

• what is the water, the food and the sun to my seeds? (what nourishes and supports them). and how can i make sure these are present in my life?

• What are the weeds (what depletes the growth of the seeds)? and how can i remove them or make sure they don’t spread?

• What actions can I take to make sure I am consistently watering the plants and not the weeds?

With love,

Ri