Holistic View: And All That Was Left Was Love (Part I)

Sacred Tree, Nature Photograph- Treasures by Teala



Recently, I decided that I would start meditating. Like most things that I vow to practice regularly, I haven't been as diligent as I originally planned. When I do practice mediation, it is usually a very positive experience. I'm going to share one particular meditation session I had, in part to share with you the potential feel-good benefits of meditation, but also to (hopefully) inspire myself to take my meditation practice a little more seriously. Now I'm certainly no expert, I've never taken a class or read a book on meditation, so if you have some pointers please use this as a forum to share!

This will be a two part story. Here is part one...

I want to build myself up to meditating for an hour. It is on my bucket list (which I should share with you sometime, I have some funny things on my list) and I'm very goal oriented. I LOVE to cross things off lists. It's such a good feeling. I decided I would start meditating after yoga. Often, yoga sessions end in shavasana, or corpse pose. You lie comfortably on your back, arms and legs slightly splayed out, fingers naturally allowed to curl inwards, jaw unclenched, the breath flowing in to you. Although it is quite comfortable, it is a pose, you don't fall asleep in shavasana. Shavasana allows you to feel your body and absorb the benefits of your yoga practice. Once at the end of my yoga class, my teacher walked us through a guided meditation where we were to imagine our favourite tree, with a door. My teacher told the class to walk trough the door into a garden, leaving your past behind you.

I decided to repeat this guided meditation at home, after yoga. I began my meditation practice in shavasana with that same visualization exercise. I imagined my favourite tree, a willow tree. On the trunk of this tree, was a door with a lovely gold handle, which I opened. On the other side of the door was a beautiful, calm garden. Now my mind took over. I wanted to walk into the garden, but it was such a peaceful, serene, wonderful place that I didn't want to bring my worry in to the garden. So I took off my worries, like taking off a jacket, and left them at the door.

But I wasn't ready to enter the garden yet. I felt this lump of anxiety in my throat. I had more layers to take off before I could enter the garden. I let go of my doubts. I felt instantly lighter. But could still feel negative energy inside of me. I reached deep into myself and removed my fear and my anxiety. I let go of my pain and my anger. And yet more negative emotions welled up. I systematically scanned my body, ripping out nasty, angry chunks of myself with my fingers, throwing them on the floor.

The words sound horrific, but I wasn't filled with dark empty holes. The places where I had ripped out negative feeling beamed with this beautiful golden-purple light. I continued stripping away layers of myself until I reached my core- a soft, glowing energy. I had removed all the superficial layers of myself until there was only one thing left. My mind knew clearly what this basal entity was. I heard only one word from my inner mind- Love. When I stripped away everything negative, all that was left was Love. I was now ready to enter the garden.

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The above photograph, Sacred Tree, is avaiable to purchase, along with additional original photographs and handmade jewelry, from my online shop, Treasures by Teala.