SoulTending.com

The New Year promises new beginnings. It promises an opportunity to start afresh. But is this really so? Our western way of organizing the days into weeks, months and years is man made. Let’s also look at the fact that, with every year on this planet, we as humans tend to get even more set into our ways. It seems like the older we get the harder it is to change.

Yet this is the time of year to do just that. It is a perfect time to confront ourself with the old habits and patterns from which we get our sense of identity. It is the time to not only come up with New Year’s resolutions, that are well intended, but also get to the core of our being. The real questions that this annual ritual of resolution setting holds, are more as follows:

• - What does my heart, my body, my soul yearn for?
• - What baby steps can I take to move into the direction of my yearnings?
• - What new habits and routines did I create in 2006 that I like to keep in the new year because they are in sync with the bigger picture?
• - What is my bigger picture?
• - What projected future puts a smile on my face?
• - What gets me excited?
• - Have I included my passions in life into my daily routines?
• - What am I passionate about?
• - What skills have I always wanted to develop and haven’t prioritized yet?

Out of these questions a whole new list of resolutions arises. One that is focused on the life we would like to live. It focuses on the positive, that what makes us get up in the mornings and puts a hop into our steps, to go beyond our set ways to reach for that, which might just be possible.

Create a life beyond your wildest dreams. Take some time to reflect on your life so far. Give yourself a big pat on the shoulder for what you have overcome. Write down your responses to these questions. Explore, fantasize, project. So much is possible if you just dare to dream. May 2007 be the most soulful year yet for you and yours.

Tending our souls, tending the soul of this planet is, what is desperately needed, if we want to ensure that future generations will not only survive, but also have a beautiful planet to live on. Many of us have recognized that consumerism cannot fill the void inside. There are so many alarming statistics about child suicide, diseases and violence. It is time to wake up, free our heads from drugs, workaholism or whatever else our dulling agent of choice is and start speaking up and more importantly become present for what is going on inside of us. We cannot change the planet into any positive direction as long as we keep abandoning our selves, our needs and our dreams.

That is, where soul tending comes in. I think, that as a whole, in the so-called developed countries, we have lost our innocence. Technology, Industry and the mighty green God “Money” have become this big machinery, which is threatening our very existence as a human species. I am aware that I am using the same technology, industry and money to write this sentence. And this is what this website is all about. How can we use what we got, see the mess we are in, take responsibility and not only make the best of it, but excel?

I believe it comes down to stopping the sensory overload that we are getting bombarded with and consciously creating space to rest, assimilate, breathe and connect with our body, mind and emotions. It is time to dream, visualize, meditate. “What you can conceive and believe you can achieve”. Yet we choose to get so busy to keep up with the “Jones’s” that we are not tending to our quiet time any more. Rest, relax, let go and dare to dream again.

One of my teachers, Anna Halprin, used to say: “Your business is it to take care of your body, your mind and your emotions. The rest will take care of itself.” In other words: “Tend to your body, thoughts and feelings and the soul will be in harmony as well.” Therefore, you will find tips, guidelines and inspirations under the headings of Body, Mind and Emotions.

In addition, I have found in my own life, that it is very helpful to have some kind of image of what a soul is. Settling your body, mind and emotions enables you to listen to the soul. Connecting to your soul can give you a bird’s eye view of your life, a place to rest and to recuperate. Most of all it gives you perspective, shows you what’s really important in life and how to redirect your life in case it’s off course.

“The journey of the soul is a continual cycle, somewhat like the seasons. In spring, things open. In summer, they come to great fruition. In fall, things go out in a blaze of glory. In winter, the seed is in the dark ground and can’t be seen.

At different points of our journey, throughout our whole life, we are in one of these cycles. Winter is often experienced as a period of despair. At the same time, it is a period of creative hybernation and development. When we get sunk down in the dark night of the soul, it helps to remember this is just one phase that will change into something else. We will come out of the darkness with something that will help us and help other people. It is actually a kind of purification phase.” By Linda Leonard, Ph.D.

So instead of running around in the pre-Christmas hectic, take some time to hybernate. Say: “No”, stay home instead, cuddle on the couch, have some hot cacoa and simply be with whatever comes into your mind and touches your emotions. There is nothing to do. Simply watch, become a spectator of your inner reality. It’s like lying on the grass and watching the clouds go by.

Cozy up, give yourself at least an hour. Don’t do a thing. Just watch your thoughts, your impulses to maybe get up and get busy again. Let your emotions run through without holding on to anything. Just be, relax and connect with yourself.

This is winter time. Allow yourself to hybernate. Give yourself the gift of being present with what is. If you can’t stand it, you can always just get up and get back into the X-mas hustle. However, give hybernation another shot. It is a skill that will always enhance your communication with your soul and with God. Try it out several times. Let’s see what happens. If you want, come back and share your experience. Happy hybernation everyone.

The following is an excerpt of the book Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach:

“In order to know a semblance of serenity during the days of our lives, we also need to discover Time’s twin nature, which the ancient Greeks called chronos and kairos.

Chronos is clocks, deadlines, watches, calendars, agendas, planners, schedules, beepers. Chronos is time at her worst. Chronos keeps track. Chronos is a delusion of grandeur. Chronos is running the Marine Corps marathon in heels. In chronos we think only of ourselves. Chronos is the world’s time.

Kairos is transcendence, infinity, reverence, joy, passion, love, the Sacred. Kairos is intimacy with the Real. Kairos is time at her best. Kairos lets go. In kairos we escape the dungeon of self. Kairos is a Schubert waltz in nineteenth-century Vienna with your soul mate. Kairos is Soul’s time.

We exist in chronos. We long for kairos. That is our duality. Chronos requires speed so that it won’t be wasted. Kairos requires space so that it might be savored. We do in chronos. In kairos we are allowed to be.

We think we’ve never known kairos, but we have: when making love, when meditating or praying, when lost in music’s rapture or literature’s reverie, when planting bulbs or pulling weeds, when watching over a sleeping child, when reading the Sunday comics together in bed, when delighting in a sunset, when exulting in our passions. We know joy in kairos, glimpse beauty in kairos, remember what it means to be alive in kairos, reconnect with our Divinity in kairos.

So how do we exchange chronos for kairos?
- By slowing down
- By concentrating on one thing at a time
- By going about whatever we are doing as if it were the only thing worth doing at that moment.
- By pretending we have all the time in the world, so that our subconscious will kick in and make it so.
- By making time.
- By taking time.
- It only takes a moment to cross over from chronos into kairos, but it does take a moment.
All that kairos asks is our willingness to stop running long enough to hear the music of the spheres.
Today, be willing to join in the dance.
Now you’re in kairos.”

Welcome to SoulTending.com a blog that explores how to embody, connect to and tend to the soul within oneself and everything that exists.

SoulTending.com is a place where we can gather and reconnect to what it means to be tending soul(s) in the fast paced, industrial, technological and ever changing world we live in.

Where to begin? The soul is elusive, yet real. What does it taste like, look like, feel like? How can I tend something so elusive?

My mind is bothered; peace, peace. If the mind is in fact an empty vessel, what do I fill it with? Being drawn to something, knowing what it is. Creating the space for it to grow. Creating a supportive environment to grow in. All these are things a gardener does.

One of my favorite sayings is: “Have time to smell the roses.” Whenever I am confused about how to tend to the chaotic life, I spend time in a nature garden. I weed, fertilize or start something from seed. Soul tending is very similar to caring for a plant. The seeds you plant matter, the soil matters.