Learn to be silent. Let your quiet mind listen and absorb. In silence you will see benefit in all things’
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| Learn to be silent. Let your quiet mind listen and absorb. In silence you will see benefit in all things |
It’s tempting when life is busy to rush
everything. Every conversation is
cut short, meals are eaten on the run, projects lay scattered half finished and
you wakeup the next day with more on your to do list than there was the day
before, despite having worked from the moment you open your eyes until you shut
them.
Certainly for me life is so busy I am
almost caught on a merry go round that is stuck in 5th gear and I’m not sure
how to slow it down. So despite it
feeling like a great inconvenience, I do make the time to meditate. I am a
superfast at making myself relax and I will admit it’s not for everyone, but I
take about 15 minutes out each day to practice mindfulness and it really
grounds me. It’s as though my
world is turned into slow motion.
I listen to every breath and connect myself to now. It’s amazing just
how much good it does me.
Occasionally I go the The Buddhist Nagarjuna Kadampa Meditation Centre based just down the road from me in Kelmarsh, to a drop in
class, but mainly I meditate at home.
If I am out and about I play Speigel in Speigel, which just transports
me out of myself.
I was at the 100th Chelsea Flower Show
today, and although I was tempted to rush about and try and capture every
garden, instead I decided to catch one and share the one that really caught my
eye. Strangely for me it was The
Mindfulness Garden which is designed to remind show visitors of the need to
focus in uncertain times that took my breath away. I spoke to Martin Cook who explained that the garden contrasts
chaos and turmoil against calm, mindfulness and quiet through careful and somewhat playful planting and use of sculptures.
The garden features paving and a carved seat by Martins son and a carved spiral
made of Cumbrian blue/black slate. The York stone paving was carved with lines
from Rudyard Kipling’s inspirational poem ‘If’ and the slate you can see in the
photo about is inscribed with Pythagoras’s verse ‘Learn to be silent. Let your
quiet mind listen and absorb. In silence you will see benefit in all things’
* Now there is a challenge. Certainly for me ... Learn to be silent. Stop laughing ... I have been know to be quiet .. very occasionally.
I love this sort of romantic garden. My son (who is a landscape designer and worked on the Australian Garden a couple of years ago at Chelsea) is right into this type of planting and I must say I really like it.
ReplyDeleteOh It was such a privilege to be there. x
DeleteHi Vanessa, I'm Lin Cook (alias Morvah) - no relation..Looking for pictures of Martin's breathtaking garden I stumbled on your blog - what a nice bonus. I hope you don't mind but I have taken the liberty of posting the whole article to my facebook page as I have friends who I know will like it too. (will delete if you wish)..so pleased to find you - thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Lin .. no delighted that you have shared .. let me know if you would like any other pics as I took a few
DeleteVanessa
x
I meditate regularly too.it helps me to relax and put my mind and body in order at the beginning of the day.I've always wanted to go to Chelsea flower show, I'll have to make the effort one year.
ReplyDelete