Day 27: Spiritual Friendships

My best friend has four legs.

Find friends who love the truth – Buddha

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

~ Marcel Proust

Joining a mindful community like the 100 Mindful Days can inspire, encourage, and hold us accountable. Spiritual friendships help our mindfulness practice come alive and raises our vibration.

Namaste

When we greet one another with Namaste, we are saying "I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells.  I honor the place in you which is of love, light, peace and joy. When you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, We Are One". 

The truth is we are all one and when we can see the spark of ourselves in another that is the gift of spiritual friendship.

You are my gorgeous friend. Sark

Take some time to consider your gorgeous friends. Who are the friends that in the words of Galwang Drupka, increase your compassion, loving kindness, wisdom & peace of mind?

Mindful Tips to improve your friendships:

1. Practice making friends with the present moment
2. Practice self love and being your own best friend
3. Send some love and light to the people who have tended to the garden of your soul
4. Set the intention to grow spiritual friendships - be specific, what attributes would you like to grow? Joy, compassion, peace, harmony.....
5. See those who are particularly challenging to you as a friend on the soul level who desires the same things as you: love, friendship, & acceptance. Loving Kindness meditations can be especially useful for this practice.

Day 51: Nature Spirits

I am most at home in your presence.

Keep close to nature's heart - John Muir

"Mother Nature is our teacher - reconnecting us with Spirit, waking us up and liberating our hearts. When we can transcend our fear of the creatures of the forest, then we become one with all that is; we enter a unity of existence with all our relatives - the animals, the plants and the land that sustains us." 

~ Sylvia Dolson

A recent walk in nature with Spirit friends in human form expanded my awareness of Spirit friends in animal form. I was asked to pick an animal or nature Spirit that I wanted to embody on a hike through a secluded place in nature. After my mind gave me several options I decided to choose the next animal that came into my awareness. There ended up being several small spiders in my vicinity.

When considering why the Spirit of spiders might be sending me a message, I thought of concepts like nurturing, patience, receptivity, and creativity. Spiders create intricate webs and have faith that what they need will come to them. Wisdom also came up as an important characteristic.  Spiders often use their multiple sets of eyes to allow them to perceive information from multiple perspectives.

I take responsibility for creating my own destiny

In situations where I let my ego take the lead, I can feel like a victim - an insect struggling to be free of an ensnaring web. When I find that higher perspective, I discover that I am not the prey caught in a web, I am the spider who created the web. If I find myself in a web that I do not want to be in, in any moment I can start over and create a new one. Just because I have created the same environment in the past, I can decide today to create a different kind of web that serves me better.

The truth that was revealed to me by the Spirit of the spider was that I powerfully create with my thoughts, intentions and expectations. I can either step into my power and consciously create my experience or I can mindlessly repeat patterns that no longer serve me. I commit to creating with Power and Purpose and share my gratitude for all the Nature Spirits that sustain and support me on our mindfulness journey.

Mindfulness tips:

1. Set an intention to connect with an animal or nature spirit that has significance for you either during the day or through meditation.
2. Be open to signs from the animal or nature world - look for anomalies.
3. If you feel a strong connection to an animal, plant, mountain or body of water, find a symbol that represents that for you and keep it in your space or add it to your meditation altar if you have one.
4. Select a special tree or spot in nature to connect with on a regular basis and discover a new level of support from nature.
5. Dedicate a compassion practice to animals or nature.
6. For example, consider thanking the spirit of any animals you eat today or abstaining from eating meat for one meal or one day as a compassion practice.