How Mindfulness Can Help Us In Planting a Seed and Growing New Habits
In this week’s Torah portion, Tazria-Metzora, we learn about different types of purification. It opens with purification for a woman after childbirth:
“Talk to the children of Israel and say; when a woman has delivered a child…”
The word written for delivered is תזריע, which means sowed or planted.
This word usually refers to plants, which form seeds in order to sustain their species
Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch explains that humans originate, grow, and exist like a plant, by spreading seeds.
Many mammals give birth to more than one baby at a time, whereas most humans give birth to one at a time.
And the process is long and intricate–from getting pregnant to growing and carrying the baby and birthing the baby.
Planting a seed takes time and patience.
We should keep this in mind when we want to grow a new habit in our lives.
Most of us want to take better care of ourselves by eating well, sleeping enough, exercising and learning mindfulness meditation. Easier said than done!
A garden isn’t created overnight, and neither is making a change or achieving a goal.
A garden needs care, attention and persistence. After you prepare the soil and plant your seeds, there’s still lots of work to do.
And your garden needs sun, rain, and good soil. You do your part and have some trust that nature will take care of the rest.
When it comes to starting a mindfulness practice, you have to be patient and trust the process. It’s not hocus pocus. Be open. Be curious. Be kind to yourself. Stick with it!
Write down a few small steps that you can take to start a mindfulness practice, such as sitting and observing your breath for five minutes a day, eating or drinking something mindfully, genuinely listening to someone when they are talking to you without distractions, or paying attention on a routine route that you drive or walk regularly.
What seeds will you plant? What steps will you take to nurture and tend the seeds you plant?
Join the next mindfulness course with Susie:
For a guided practice in English:
Hebrew/מדיטציה מודרכת עברית :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMwJy4pEYaw - למתחילים
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu3CUzUOY6s - מדיטציה 8 דקות
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