Written by Aviva Tulasi
I enjoy getting my feet dirty as I play in the dirt and pretend to garden. I plant seeds, water them and let them grow wild. I enjoy the connection I have when I go out into the yard. And occasionally, I tend to the plants. After being on a vacation for two weeks in June, I was surprised that my overgrown garden turned into a garden of weeds.
I was overwhelmed by the amount of invasive grass that was taking over. I was disappointed that all the work that I had done in the fall and spring didn’t help… And then it hit me. I hadn’t really done anything about the weeds since the spring. Why was I surprised that the weeds returned? I made the resolve to do something different. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to clear all the weeds in one day, but I could clear a little section each week. So I put on my crocs and started to pull weeds. As the sweat poured down my face, the yoga analogies of thoughts being seeds made so much sense.
When you don’t actively remove weeds from a garden, they take over. Weeds grow quickly and produce a lot of seeds. Their roots are deep and spread out making it difficult to find. If you simply pile up your weeds, you leave the seeds in a fertile place to grow. And there are thousands of excuses you can tell yourself about not going out to weed. It’s too hot. There are too many bugs. I don’t have enough time. I don’t know what I am doing. If you don’t actually get out into the garden, nothing is going to change and the weeds will continue to grow.
But let’s be realistic here. Weeds themselves are not bad. They have a purpose. The first year that we moved into the house, I purposefully threw pulled weeds to the side yard in hopes that the roots would prevent soil erosion. And some weeds I won’t touch because deer eat them. Dandelions have immense health benefits. And of course native weeds are the first food source for bees and wasps. However, when the weeds take over the garden, besides being ulgy, they steal nutrients from the other plants.
We all have negative thoughts and behaviors. It is easy to get caught into a negative thought pattern and like a snowball it consumes your mind and controls your actions. Focusing on negativity depletes your energy. However, many times, negative thoughts were developed when we were young, before our intellect matured, to help us survive and function. Behaviors and thoughts from these parts of us are not necessarily negative. However, they might not be in balance with the present moment and truth. We cannot get rid of these parts of us, just like weeds, but we can change the way they are impacting our garden, balancing their impact on our current state of mind and wellbeing.
If we don’t examine the root of thoughts, it is easy for the irrational thoughts to unnecessarily creep into our everyday interactions and behaviors. It is not enough to explore our thinking habits and behaviors once or twice a year. Like weeding the garden, it takes ongoing effort. It takes consistency and persistence. We have so many thoughts going through our mind at any given time, that it can be difficult to separate what is matter of fact (present moment), useful insights and what can be untrue and even harmful. We have to go deep while feeling safe. If we want to promote clear thinking and not stay in our habitual patterns, we need to do the work.
With compassion, we have to be able to explore the root of thought patterns. There are many different things we can do to tend to the thought garden. Therapy, with a trained professional, is a healthy way to support progress. Explore activities where you feel safe getting to the root of the patterns of thoughts that we have carried for a long time.
Like weeds, thoughts are not inherently bad, but unchecked they can cause suffering. Our thought patterns will return, like weeds, but we can build a garden that is less reactive and in harmony. Meditation, for many, is an activity that supports balance in our thought garden. A 2019 study found that even novice meditators were found to have decreased negative mood state and enhanced attention, working memory, and recognition memory as well as decreased state anxiety after 8 months of daily short meditation. If we learn to be patient and sit, we can make lasting change. Yogis, Buddhists, and scientists have noted time and time again that meditation is the means for positively changing the brain by activating brain regions involved in cognitive and emotional control. Meditation provides an opportunity to be introspective and investigate the nature of your thought patterns and behaviors. It helps you find the things that keep replaying over and over again, and helps you repattern your interaction with them. As upi sit in introspection you get insight into what you really need and what stories to let go of.
We might make thousands of excuses for why we should not meditate. But ultimately we have a choice: do the work or accept that the weeds will return. You have control of your thought garden. You can transform and mature the mind. One way to do this is to start or recommit to a daily meditation practice. Sometimes joining a group meditation helps keep you accountable to yourself.
This week starts new group meditations. Aviva will be leading an early Morning Meditation Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6am.
The silence during the early morning promotes introspection.
Discover a meditation technique that works best for you.
We continue to host Group Meditations Fridays In Person and Online at 11:25 am right after Mindful Movement.
You can also find meditation sessions on our video library.
You don’t have to be sitting in silence to meditate. Just like there are hundreds of variations for each asana, there are hundreds of methods for meditation. You might find yourself meditating while you are cooking or walking. The important thing is to show up and objectively observe the thoughts as they arise, unfold and dissolve.
In Person yoga returns at Dogwood Studios.
In Person option for 10am Mindful Movement and Yoga on Wednesdays will be at The Parlour on Mann’s Chapel.
In Person option for 10am Mindful Movement and Yoga and Group Meditation on Fridays will be at Yoga Shala.
Click here to Sign Up for a group class.
The next offering of Osteoporosis and Yoga Workshop will be held on August 20th at 1-5 pm. Learn more HERE..
Reach out to the Dogwood Team with any questions at info@dogwoodstudioyoga.com. We are here to help.
Aviva Chaye Tulasi is a team member at Dogwood Studios. She is a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT). She applies the teachings of classical yoga to reduce the effects of negative stress and to balance the nervous system. Aviva is available for private sessions. Email Aviva at yogawithtulasi@gmail.com with any questions.
SAM Sather, founder of Dogwood Studios, is a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT), individualizes the yoga practice with appropriate modifications for participants’ unique bodies and medical histories with a focus on finding calm and improving health. She offers several live, online and in person yoga classes as well as private sessions so you can focus on your needs one-on-one.