Sunday Meditations

I awoke this morning feeling very unsettled.  Almost instantly, my mind began swimming around in the thick murky waters of worry and dread.  This doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, it hits me like a ton of bricks.

As I went through the motions of my regular waking routine – put coffee on, feed cats etc., I could feel my thoughts going over to the ‘dark side of the force,’ churning and mulling over all of the ‘what if’ scenarios of calamity and destruction.  Like I said, this doesn’t happen very often, I normally wake up feeling quite peaceful and content, so that was a bit alarming to me too because it made me wonder if maybe I was psychically picking up on some real and actual impending doom – I’m forever over-spiritualizing everything.  But then rationality kicked in and I was able to calm myself.

I took a deep breath, poured my coffee, and headed back into my bedroom for my other ‘regular waking routine.’  I don’t know if I’ve shared this here before, but every morning shortly after I wake up, I spend about an hour in prayer and meditation.  The first thing I do is light an incense match, and as it burns, I speak only of all of the things that I am thankful for.  Then I take it one step further and write down one of those things in a special journal I have.  And I meditate on that one thing, breathing in and out, allowing that full sense of gratitude to wash over me.  Then I spend some time just looking out the window, watching the sun come up while I’m sipping on my coffee.  Then I pray, and listen.  I also spend time reading out of a little daily devotional book entitled “Jesus Calling,” it’s sooooo good, and it sets me exactly right every time.  Interestingly, I happened to read the wrong day’s meditation today, but it was so spot on with what was happening with my thoughts earlier this morning, the first sentence said… “Trust and thankfulness will get you safely through this day…”  The thankfulness part is no problem, but sometimes I struggle a bit with the trust part.

What was happening with my thoughts when I first awoke was that I was worrying about the future.  Something had happened the night before that frightened me a bit, and I was getting all up in my head about all of the potential ‘what ifs’ of the future.  Look out, it’s a trap!  Staying in the present moment is so key, and I know this, I practice this, but I still find myself going around and around in my head about things sometimes.  The reason it’s so key for me to stay in the present moment is because that is where I find, well, sooo many things, but here today it’s where I find the ‘trust’ part – when I focus on the present moment, I see that all is well.  All. Truly. Is. Well.  So I don’t need to worry.  And tomorrow… well, tomorrow isn’t come yet.  “Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.”

All I have to worry about is today, right now, this moment, and in this moment, I’m okay.

This is what I wrote in my gratitude journal this morning…

 

Today I am thankful for this present moment…

for the deep dark blue color that the sky is right now in this moment, and how beautiful it looks against the bare branches of my tree

for the rich flavor of my coffee

the warmth of the candle that is lit next to me, and its soothing light

for the sound of crows I can hear faintly cawing somewhere off in the distance

and the aroma of the incense I just burned a moment ago.

I’m thankful that in this present moment all is well

I am sheltered

I am fed

I am clothed

all of my five senses are functioning properly

and I am well.

In this present moment

and in the moments that have just passed as I wrote these words

I have everything I need

and so much more.

I have peace.

 

© Julie Rehnelt 2015

 

And I have pretty frost on my windows.

Again.

🙂

 

 

 

✿~Peace & Love~✿

Herbal Adventures

For many years I have believed in the medicinal and therapeutic benefits of herbs, and I rather like/prefer the idea of using natural remedies as a way to promote health and wellness.

One herb in particular that I know I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions how much I love is lavender.  Although it is said to have oodles of healing benefits, I just love it for the scent and the color of it, and for the way it makes me feel.  ♥   Yeah, no scientific studies or research by “experts” needs to be done on lavender to prove to me that it helps calm and soothe the senses.  Mmm…

But aside from lavender there are many other herbs that provide equally beneficial healing properties for a wide range of ailments, not to mention culinary pleasures as well.  I know I’m a bit of a nature freak, but seriously how cool is it that everything we could possibly need for health and wellness in life can be found somewhere on this beautiful earth of ours?

Unfortunately, a lot of the age-old knowledge for natural remedies has gotten a bit lost in this era of “modern” medicine.  But herbal medicine is making a comeback, albeit as an “alternative” type of therapy.  The thing with herbalism is that it  works best when practiced holistically, meaning with the intent to bring healing to the entire body to get at the source of physical and emotional imbalance, rather than just treating the symptoms.  So it often requires one to examine other areas such as diet, lifestyle, and mental attitude, taking into consideration the role that these factors also play in keeping you healthy or contributing to disease.  Plus, it’s a process, in many cases the healing actions of herbs take place over a period of time, so one doesn’t get immediate results like those that can be found in taking a pill.  But the long-term results of herbal medicine is often a much deeper healing, and for many people it’s well worth the wait.

Anyway, the reason I bring all of this up is because I’ve been playing “mad-scientist” here concocting some herbal remedies, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it.  There is some degree of caution to take when working with herbs and one cannot go about things completely blind.  There is a science within herbalism just as with anything else, so I’ve been reading up on it quite a bit.  It all started with bringing my herbs inside to try and winter them over, and morphed from there because of my recent health concerns.

I was at the second-hand store last week with my family, and as per usual I ended up in the used books section.  I have a tendency to get lost and completely absorbed amidst the books, so I try to resist wandering over to that part of the store.  😉

I hadn’t been specifically looking for any, but I found a few herb books…

When I got home I went in search of other herb books that I knew I had packed away somewhere.  Some of which included a huge Atlas of Herbal Medicine, dozens of Herbal Companion Magazines that I had a subscription to years ago, as well as a couple of aromatherapy books.

I’ve been scouring over them all ever since and needless to say, my interest in herbalism has been renewed.  I’m thinking that I might have to force encourage my sister to get back to working on the Master of Herbalism Program that she began a few years ago at the Midwest School of Herbal Studies, so that I can pick her brain, she can be my Obi-Wan Kenobi of all things herbal.   😉

~

Peace & love…