Hello, my name is Shobha and I meditate.
Meditation is very in these days. As ancient and as worldwide a practice as it might be, currently, we are hearing more about it as a mainstream activity. This, in my opinion is a very good thing. The mental, physical, emotional and spiritual benefits of meditation are now in the annals of science. These weighty findings have finally given it the heft of credibility and people everywhere can publicly declare without fear of being mocked that they are meditators.

I have meditated off and on over many years but have been practicing it more consistently of late. I cannot say exactly how it helps me except that on the days I skip my meditation, I don’t feel so great. I’m more cranky and not as productive. For some reason, it is not so easy to make the time. Especially since it is best to get it done first thing in the morning. I think it helps to set a positive tone to the day. However, if one has overslept, has not slept well or, has an early morning appointment, the meditation is unhesitatingly skipped. For myself, any other time of day does not quite lend itself to meditation. I am just too distracted. Clearly, I have a long way to go to be able to meditate anytime and anywhere. Gives me something to aspire to. Sort of like the quest to achieving true enlightenment.

Until such time, I have developed alternatives to the traditional way to meditate. You guessed it, it all happens in the garden. In truth, this can be done anywhere but being outside in nature is restorative in itself. How much time you spend on this is up to you. You must be satisfied with your effort and feel like you’ve taken an uplifting break from the day’s obligations.

Once you have entered the garden and visibly begun to calm down and breathe evenly, take a few deep breaths to send a message to the brain that it is in for a treat. Bring your attention to any object in the garden. Say it is a pear. Consider how you would describe a pear. Green, tear drop shaped, smooth skin, sweet in taste, you get the idea. Then, think about tinier details such as the speckled pattern on the skin, the subtly varied shades of the color green, the asymmetry of the shape, the aroma etc., Now you’re really honed into the exercise. Finally, up it a notch. Begin describing the humble pear all over again – this time, as you would to a blind person. Somebody who has never had the sense of sight and does not know this fruit. Tear drop shaped? What is that? How would you describe the color green? You see? It is a challenge. The description can no longer be in comparison to something else. The pear acquires an explanation that is unique to itself. Give it a try.

Like most things, one gets better at this exercise by doing it regularly. It is not so simple and at the same time, it is not really difficult. Anybody of any age can try it. After all, only you are privy to how well you do. No grades and criticisms are given. But right from the start it unfailingly takes you out of yourself and gives you a purposeful diversion. The bonus is that you will find yourself looking more closely at everything. Everyday objects start appearing more beautiful and interesting. In essence, you become more mindful of the moment. And isn’t that what meditation is all about?

I have learned to describe colors as feelings, smells as textures or tastes and generally expanded my descriptive abilities in words as well as in paint. Primarily, I’ve become better at looking at something for what it is. And I accept all of it: the good and the not so good. Because everything is important in making a spider a spider or a rose a rose. I aspire to graduate very soon to doing the same with humans.

Now that meditating has gained wide acceptance and approval, I’m fervently hoping the same happens for naps.

Meditate on these images!

Cobweb in the rain

Milkweed seed pod

Pears

David Austin’s Heritage rose

Bright pink echinacea ‘Gum Drop’

Aconitum – monkshood

(c) 2013 Shobha Vanchiswar

Take the storms in stride
Let the rains come
Feel the sunshine
Ride the waves
Mark the tides

Spring has officially begun and with it comes renewal and rebirth in the garden. As much as one tires of the dark, freezing days of winter, would we be so thankful and welcoming of spring if it were not for the season before? When something is present all the time, we tend not take the trouble to appreciate it on a regular basis. Just look how often we take the people we love for granted. Or the luxury of having not just running water but hot water when needed. Think how your penchant for iced tea would suffer without the easy abundance of ice within arms reach. How frequently we fail to be grateful for the daily necessities that make our lives so livable. Even more overlooked are those details like a friendly smile, a newly opened flower, freshly laundered sheets, early morning birdsong; things that though not entirely essential, lend joie de vivre to the dailiness of our lives.

And so it is with the propensity one sees these days to have the ever blooming rose, the eternally immaculate, “no maintenance” lawn, the ‘instant’ tree or best of all, the effortless vegetable garden. If anticipation itself is half the pleasure, then the well-timed rose completes it don’t you think? To expect eagerly and then applaud the flowers that bloom but for a specific span of time cannot in any way compare to what is in flower all the time. We simply get used to things till we no longer notice them. The local, sun ripened strawberries of late spring cannot be matched by those imported at other times of the year. If we had firework displays all the time, would the fourth of July still feel special and celebratory?
Everything has a season for good reason.

The high price of a pristine lawn and the harm to the environment can hardly be worth losing the earliest sources of nectar for bees and hummingbirds – the much maligned dandelion. Much is sacrificed in the effort to keep that lawn just so that ,we’ve forgotten the birthright of children and animals to play there, pick grass to make a whistle, bury a bone or other treasure, search for four-leaved clover without worry of the toxic effects of weed killers and pesticides.

Disregard for the moment, the expense of planting a mature or almost mature tree ( they are called ‘trophy trees’). After all, if one has the funds, why must a person be judged for how they spend it. It the foregoing of the utter satisfaction of watching a young sapling evolve into an impressive tree that is the true waste. So what if it takes too long for a baby tree to become an adult tree? Would we not think it a pity if we missed out on the years it takes a man-child to become a man? Think about it. And then, with the money saved, a multitude of whips can be planted instead: to create an alley, a grove or an orchard.

What exactly is a low maintenance vegetable garden? Does that mean not enough care was given to the plants? Were the plants compelled to jockey for space with rampant weeds? Or maybe no sleep was lost when pests ate up a good portion of the crops. To get healthy, abundant vegetables, regular watering, weeding and organic pest control is de rigueur. Besides, if it were that easy, would you have the same pride when putting food cultivated by your own two hands on the family table? Gives one pause right?

Assuming one implements time and sweat saving practices, how then are those purloined hours spent? I’d be ecstatic if they were passed in noble pursuits like face to face conversations with family and friends, a pick up game with the kids, volunteering for community services or hardest of all, spending time being creative sans anything digital for assistance or company.

A better approach is to acknowledge that we are but small cogs in the big wheel of life. Invite the gifts that nature has bestowed upon us. Sunsets, rainbows, birds, butterflies, flowers, fruits, fall foliage, snow, rain, rivers and lakes, oceans, mountains, forests, prairie and, most precious of all, each other. There will be storms, droughts and the occasional locust invasion. Accept them. We’re meant to live in harmony with nature. Each day comes laden with its own pleasures, treasures and choices. Choose wisely and you will partake heartily of the day.

Lets make this a true beginning, an honest spring.

“A man’s children and his garden both reflect the amount of weeding done during the growing season.”- Anonymous

Wisteria

Bonica roses

Ornamental grass

Asters

The good life

January Snowscape

The first month of the new year is coming to a close. The newness has worn off but hopefully not the enthusiasm to do better, strive higher. I’ve been examining how easily we, as a society, assume that new is always better. Is it?

I’m not talking about experiences like that of cracking open a brand new exercise book. How many people remember the smell of new paper and the firm smoothness of that first right-hand page? I’m thinking more on the lines of products that promise to cut short your effort and time. Not new and improved but new and different. Let me explain the distinction.

Spring loaded secateurs made the task of pruning and clipping much easier. It was the same tool made better by the spring action. A simple tweak. It put no pressure on the user to relearn anything or perform the task in a different way. That is new and improved.

New and different is not so simple. Consider the lawn mower. The manual push reel mower does a good job. But it can be slow and one labors a bit in pushing it around. So, enter the power mower. Gets the job done in half the time. The gardener can now afford to take a nap in the hammock. But, not just anybody can use this mower anymore. The young tween has lost his lucrative enterprise since, using a power mower demands a more mature understanding on how to operate it and a greater degree of muscle strength to keep control of the machine. Along with that, there’s a demand for an energy source be it electric or gas, as well as a jump in noise and air pollution. Not to mention a spike in mower related visits to the ER.

I won’t elaborate further. Instead, give yourself some time to think about this topic. There might be a shift to how you approach the new. There are indeed some things that have been true godsends and there are those that one wishes had never been invented. We need to be mindful of what or which ‘new’ we embrace. I’d love to know your thoughts.

I recently saw this sign “ Try Something New, Learn From The Old”. More food for thought.

More snow

Paperwhites

(c) Shobha Vanchiswar 2013