From Seeds to Seedlings
Growing the flowers of peace in our hearts.
In the garden of my heart, the flowers of peace bloom beautifully.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Dear friends,
I recently planted the seed of my idea to create a new paid for community called ‘Soulful Seeds,’ but I love the name so much that I am changing the name of my Substack page!
‘Inspired by Love’ will now be called ‘Soulful Seeds’, and the paid for community will be ‘Soulful Seedlings,’ where we can nurture ourselves and grow into the light of our kind minds.
Soulful Seeds will be about planting the seeds of helpful, friendly, kind and loving thoughts into our mind, so that we can transform our unkind thoughts into helpful thoughts, feelings and actions.
This is just what Inspired by Love set out to do, but it’s also what my Mindful Living course was created for. This course is all about planting positive seeds in our mind, so that we can develop a deeper understanding of ourselves and grow the flowers of mindfulness, so they can blossom into a beautiful heart and mind. In the course I offer methods to grow love, peace and kindness through meditation, relaxation, affirmations, visualisation and mindful movement, taking you on a journey of:
Preparing the ground
Planting positive seeds
Nurturing your practice
Growing and blossoming
I would love to take you on a similar journey through this Soulful Seeds Substack page and then take your hand and guide you further along the path in our Soulful Seedlings community.
In my post ‘Growing flowers within the garden of my heart,’ I shared how I was learning to grow the flowers of kindness, compassion and warmth within my heart, so that I could heal the wounds I carry and the sadness that lies within. This is my wish for you too, that you make friends with yourself and grow loving-kindness in the garden of your heart, so that you too can heal, grow and flourish.
As we take inspiration from Thich Nhat Hanh’s quote: “In the garden of my heart, the flowers of peace bloom beautifully,” may this prayer for the end of suffering take you on a journey to freedom and flow, and allow you to grow the flowers of peace in your heart and mind.
(https://grateful.org/resource/great-bell-chant/)
May the sound of this bell penetrate deep into the cosmos
Even in the darkest spots
Living beings are able to hear it clearly
So that all suffering in them cease
Understanding comes to their heart
And they transcend the path of sorrow and death.
The universal dharma door is already open
The sound of the rising tide is heard clearly
The miracle happens
A beautiful child appears in the heart of a lotus flower
One single drop of this compassionate water
Is enough to bring back the refreshing spring to our mountains and rivers.
Listening to the bell
I feel the afflictions in me begin to dissolve
My mind calm
My body relax
A smile is born on my lips
Following the sound of the bell
My breath brings me back to the safe island of mindfulness
In the garden of my heart
The flowers of peace bloom beautifully.
I hope you will join me on this journey of planting our seeds, growing our seedlings and blossoming into beautiful flowers. Please enjoy resting here for a while as a seed and then join me as a seedling to grow into the light.
May we cultivate our Soulful Seedlings community to be a place of soul filled kindness, where we plant the seeds of helpful words, kind action and deep inner connection, allowing us to grow, blossom and flourish.
I look forward to seeing your seeds germinate and flourish.