Welcome back to Picture Love, friends. I'm so happy you're here. I am bubbling with excitement for the topic I am sharing from my experience and the joy that working with plants, whether it's a garden or just tending a potted plant, has brought me so much joy. And if you're the kind of person who prefers to have artificial plants, stick with me. This is relevant for you, too. So I got an email on Sunday from one of my mailing lists I'm on where I get some of my seeds. Since we've moved south, I invested time and money and a piece of our property to a proper garden, which required fencing to keep my dog, who channels cow behaviors, from eating it all. Anyway, it's been so much fun. So much fun and exhaustion and sweat and dirt and messy floors, but it's so worth it because it feels really beautiful to G.R.O.W. something that's nourishing and beautiful, and it's a partnership. growing plants, working with plants is a partnership, and they never talk back, but they show you signs of displeasure when something's off. And I'm just really learning a lot about myself while working with and learning about taking care of my garden. And so this email that I received on Sunday was a National Garden Week" email with, of course, a promotion, 'cause they sell seeds and plants. And I thought to myself, "I never heard of National Garden Week before," and I looked it up, and yeah, it's a thing. It's a thing. Anyway I've encountered a lot of synchronicities on this theme. I woke up yesterday morning, also Sunday, before opening that email, with the words G.R.O.W. with me coming out of my mind. Uh, so I looked it up on the internet, G.R.O.W. with me, and it came up with a bunch of, like, baby companies and baby books and things about, raising little humans. But the G.R.O.W. with me part felt like a pun, a play on words where speaking directly to the joy I am experiencing from personal G.R.O.W.th that comes from growing plants and growing gardens, and actually being able to sustain us by having edible landscaping. It's really exciting. So I found myself journaling 'cause I had so many ideas coming up, and I thought to myself, "Ooh, G.R.O.W. is actually an acronym for gratefully recognize and observe with wonder." And all of a sudden, I found myself walking the dogs remembering this coming through my, my awareness, and I started putting steps to it. So it was, like, four steps. I was gratefully inhaling and holding it for four steps as I recognized, and then exhaling on observing And pausing for four steps to wonder. And I realized it was a beautiful blend of thoughts and feelings, all incorporating the mind and the heart. So I thought, "Oh, that's a really cool breathwork exercise, so maybe I'll investigate that." And so after my walk, I sat down and, with my journal, and did put that in. Well, my journal has a whole page full of "G.R.O.W.-with-me" ideas. And I ended up with a list of 10 different ways to participate in National Gardening Week. Now, if you are not listening to this during the week of June the 7th through, I don't know, 14th, not to worry. It's relevant to you whenever you choose to listen to this conversation. But these are fun ways that I think it's just, it's fun when you have a day or a week or a month to set the intention, to pay attention to, to be more conscious of a purpose. And so therefore, I have a list of ideas I want to offer gardeners and people who appreciate plants who maybe don't actually raise them, and how they can apply to our personal experience on this earth. And the first one is obvious. Plant a tree or plant a seed with the intention of, during the course of the week, watering it every day with that "G.R.O.W." intention- to gratefully recognize the value of the seed and the plant that it becomes. And filling your mind with these beautiful, very fruitful thoughts that generate the feelings of observing the process, knowing that the roots G.R.O.W. before they break the soil, and the wonder of it all happening with a little bit of light and the right amount of watering. And you might not even need to water it every day but just giving them the intention. And literally talking to my plants has been amazing because they G.R.O.W. more when they're paid attention to- just like us. When we're ignored, we don't G.R.O.W. as much, but when we tend to our own personal garden, when we interact with those who lift us up and don't suffocate us, we thrive. And plants are the same. They are a reflection of that thriving. And by interacting with a plant like you would somebody you love, that plant becomes somebody you love and displays it in its behavior, in its growth. And seeds are no different, even though they're hidden under the soil. Or maybe you're choosing to G.R.O.W. a seed in a glass of water to see the process. That's fine. It's beautiful to gratefully recognize its value, even when you're not directly seeing its progress. So at the risk of being very obvious, plant a seed, plant a tree. And part two of that might be, what if maybe you're having, I don't know, an apple or a peach or an avocado or a piece of produce that you got from the farmers market or from the grocery store or wherever you get your produce, and actually trying to root the seed or the pit from that plant that was purchased to create a new tree or a new plant from it. Tomato seeds are really gratifying. They're easy. So are sunflower seeds. Very easy. Just make sure they're not roasted and salted. You know what I'm saying. But those are a couple ways that I think would be really fruitful. And I actually, on that topic, while I was walking and while that G.R.O.W. acronym was developing in my mind, I noticed my neighbors have beautiful black-eyed Susans. And this neighbor's name is Carol, and she has a teensy little dog who's just so cute. And I was just wondering, if maybe when the black-eyed Susans are spent if I could have one of them so that I could plant some of the seeds from her plant. So I literally have a little a cute little note paper that I'm going to write a message and stick it on her, in her mailbox and see. And I know it will give her great joy to share her seeds with me, and I can reciprocate if she is interested in doing that as well. All right, so here's another way that I think could be really a beautiful intention to participate in National Gardening Week. Let's say you already have a plant and it deserves to be repotted, because that's one of those important but not urgent things that often gets pushed back and pushed back, and a plant stops showing its G.R.O.W.th when its roots get really pot-bound, depending on the plant. I know Monsteras love to fill in their space fully, for example, but there comes a time where it needs to be repotted. So whether it's an indoor or an outdoor plant- Giving them a fresh environment. Refresh the ecosystem. Maybe even spread the roots a little bit more and add some extra nourishment to the soil. Give it some fresh soil and a fresh pot. That's a beautiful thing. Here's another thing: choose a current plant and give it a makeover. Maybe it's something that just G.R.O.W.s faithfully in the ground, perennial, you know, year round, keeps doing its thing, and it's kind of like a plant it, forget it plant. What if we gave it a makeover? What if we trimmed the lawn around it, tidied it up, and gave it a little pruning that it wasn't expecting, and gave it maybe even a beautiful border or maybe a lawn ornament to go with it. Or if it's an indoors one, maybe, like I said, give it an ornament or rotate it. Those are ways of giving a little makeover. And of course dusting the leaves because indoor plants, they accumulate our household dust. Just do something to refresh it and give it a little update, like when we get our hair cut. Now, if you have plastic or silk plants because, like me, you have... fur babies who would chomp on them or maybe you travel a lot and don't want to be responsible for killing plants, so you have some artificial ones in your space. Or maybe you just have a combo because that's what you wanted to do. Dusting them, rotating them, giving them an ornament or a decoration, or even taking the pot and putting it inside of a larger one to give it a makeover, that's such a nice way to refresh. And behind me I have an artificial flower arrangement in a little pot, and I was rotating it earlier and the whole arrangement, which these artificial flowers are actually poked into styrofoam, it came out of the pot all together and I thought to myself, "Oh, it's small enough. That would be so cute to, to repot putting it inside of maybe a mug I don't drink from." But that would be such a cute way of giving it a little bit of an update. And the intention behind that is, is just gratefully recognizing it and observing with wonder Another thing we can do for National Gardening Week is, it's gonna sound like it's for us, but it is. Put your feet in the grass. Now, if you're one of those people and you're like, "Yeah, I do that every day, Kris," maybe just add on to that intention and use that gratefully recognize and observe with wonder. You know, recognize how the grass is knitted into the earth, and how standing on it connects us with the earth. And observe the temperature or the dryness or the moisture or the length of the grass. Does it cover your toes? Does it tickle your toes? If you can't do it barefoot and you just need to stand in the grass in your mind, go with it and imagine, because your imagination is unlimited. It's limited to your thoughts, so choose the thoughts that give you enough space. But your feet in the grass is just a beautiful way of appreciating what has already G.R.O.W.n, It doesn't have to shade us or be in a pot or give us fruit in order to be valuable plant life. All right, here's another one. Pay special attention to a tree, one that goes unappreciated, unrecognized, ignored, forgotten. And if, if you have a plant, a tree that you can go sit under or go touch, that's great. But if you don't, maybe visualize one you've been around, or maybe create one in your mind. There's so many beautiful state parks around me, and I love when you can go walk trails where they have trees that, that, what are my words I'm looking for? Like, reach out, like appendages, and some of them dip low enough that they almost look like they have benches on the branches. So if you are visualizing something, what kind of tree seems most inviting to you? And sit with your eyes closed and take your deep breaths and gratefully recognize and observe with wonder. How it feels, how it smells, how it sounds with the wind rustling through the needles or the leaves, or the birds in it. Use your senses when you're imagining what tree you're visiting. All right, here's another thing. If you're feeling crafty and you need to, I mean, it's, it's summertime while I'm recording this. Kids are getting out of school, and, and that inner child in each one of us likes to play. It's so important that we adults remember play. And something simple that I did that brought me great satisfaction was I went to the home improvement store, and I bought myself a bag of large river rocks, and they were the smooth ones in my case. You don't have to. Just whatever pleases you. And I brought them home, and I rinsed them because they're always covered in dust and gravel, and I spray painted them actually bright blue, and then with a white paint pen I wrote words on them to label my plants, like carrots and spinach, beans, hotties, those are my hot peppers, and so on. And you could even choose to write loving messages like "thank you" or "G.R.O.W." or "gratitude" or words that make you feel good, and place those rocks in a pot or under a tree or put them somewhere where they will be a little surprise when your eyes land on it. And I've been in parks where people have done that, and they've left them for other people to notice on their walks on the path. So it doesn't have to be for where you live. It can be for a place where you go. Even at work, you know the, the little places where people linger, maybe areas where there are picnic benches that don't get all of the beautiful decoration and decor that the landscapers take care of, uh, but where people take breaks. And what if there was this beautifully hand-painted rock in the corner where somebody happens to notice it, and it makes somebody feel good because it was put there with intention and beauty and love? I have a beautiful magnolia tree. It is taller than my house, in the backyard. It makes me so happy, and it has been gradually opening its bloom for the last couple months. Every day there's new blooms. Every day there's brown petals that fell to the ground that crinkle up and dry, and my dog loves to crunch on them. Interesting. And then every day there are new ones. Well, today when I was out there watering the garden, I went over to check on my tree and see, you know, how dry is it around the roots and do we need to water it, 'cause we have another dry spell going on. And while I was standing there, I noticed it dropped a fresh petal from a bloom that was eye level for me. And I picked it up and I was just overwhelmed by the fragrance. It's, it's soft and it's creamy and it's a sweet smell, and it's one of my favorite fragrances. I love this southern magnolia scent. So I picked it up and I thought I would, I wonder if I could make hydrosol with it," to put in a spray bottle so I could spray the fragrance of the magnolia even after it's finished its blooming season. And right when I had that thought a bumblebee came and just bopped me on the head, it was so funny. And I thought interesting," 'cause I'm very friendly with the pollinators that love my lavender plants about 10 paces away. So I looked at the tree and I was like, I hate to say it, but what if I picked just one bloom?" Which is huge. It's like the size of a dinner plate. It's so, so big and grand. I took a photo of it. If you're on YouTube, I will show you a picture of the bloom right now. Anyway, I ended up standing there for a minute, and I just decided, "Okay, well the bee must have been confirming that was a good idea." So I picked it, and in the process of doing that, I'm not joking, I was saying thank you. I was saying beautiful things to the tree as I was plucking the one bloom, and I promised that was the only one I was going to take from it. It rested its branches on me, on my arms. And then either that bee or another one came by and just did a quick little... Wait, wait, wait, wait. Let me just finish with this one. And it, it bustled around the petals while I was holding it. I can't make this stuff up. It was incredible. And I said, "Oh, okay." It felt like a ceremony. And so then the bee just buzzed off, and it's like blessed and released. "Okay, we're finished. You can take it now." And I did. I took it inside, and I made... I, am waiting for it to cool. I made some hydrosol. We'll see if it worked. But I was so inspired, I wanted to sit down and record this with you. So those are the ways that I wanted to kick around with you, ways that we can really interact with and, and spend some more conscious intention on our plants. Not just watering them, not just taking them for granted, not just saying, "Ugh, I gotta repot that one of these days." I have a spider plant that's sending down tendrils. There are so many babies coming off of this plant, and I've potted a few of them. But I just decided at least three more of these babies are gonna get a new home this week. They look so happy and so beautiful, and I think I'm actually gonna give some to my neighbors, my plant-loving neighbors. But anyway, if you are still with me, I am going to share with you a little visualization using the G.R.O.W. acronym. So those were the ways that I wanted to offer that we can picture love during National Gardening Week. So if you are with me to do the visualization for just a little bit of a timeout, a little nervous system reset, and a way of truly participating with our plant life, here we go. Will you grow with me? Let's visualize how beautiful it is to have visible manifestation of thriving and blooming and growing and seasons right in front of us in this life experience. Will you take a deep breath with me now? And let's relax Think of the word grow as an acronym. G-R-O-W A practice that's connecting our thoughts and our feelings, our mind and our heart. So if you could please settle your body, make sure your feet are supported, your back is supported, and if it's comfortable for you, let your eyes gently close. We'll take a deep breath to gratefully- Recognize and observe with wonder Think of a plant or a flower or a tree, something with roots that's as live as you and I And when you have that beautiful plant being in your mind, inhale with gratitude for its value Recognize what it does for us, for its beauty, for the air, for its role in our life. And as you exhale, observe with wonder how it makes you feel, knowing it's supporting your breath, it's supporting our Earth, it's supporting beings around us and in the Earth. And as you inhale again, make sure your hands are relaxed. And let's start at the top of our head where your scalp is. Imagine the sunlight that helps feed these plants, how it warms, and envision and imagine a tingling all over your scalp from the beautiful warmth of the sunlight And imagine it's coating you like honey, and it's gently covering your forehead, the back of your head, your eyes, your ears, your nose, your mouth. It's coating you in this beautiful glowing light that's soothing and healing, and it clears the air for your breath. It soothes tired eyes. It nourishes your skin And you're d- noticing that your jaw releases, your facial muscles relax, your neck lengthens just like a plant perking up towards the light That beautiful sunlight travels down your shoulders and you notice the muscles relax and let go. And with every breath, you're full of more gratitude and recognition for the cooperation of the life that's flowing through your body, through the energy, the golden light that's coating your space Your shoulders relax, your upper arms, your elbows, your forearms, all the way down to your hands. They're coated with this beautiful golden light, and you might even feel tingles in the tips of your fingers or in the palms of your hands. And with every breath, y- your lungs get filled up more and more with the beauteous beautiful golden light that's refreshing yet warming Your heart is full of it. This golden light radiates from your heart and expands throughout your whole body. And you notice that your back gets more relaxed while the muscles in your lower back, in your belly, they just relax and let everything feel like relaxing jelly. And you continue to inhale gratefully Recognizing the beauty of life and exhaling as you observe with wonder and your hips release. They release all the worries they've been holding on for you that no longer serve. And we gratefully recognize their service, and we release it as we observe with wonder how our bodies are vibrating with this vitality just like the plant in your mind right now And like a stem or a trunk, your legs are coated and filled with vitality and growth. And you can imagine the sunlight traveling through every cell, through your system, through your blood vessels, and warming and tingling and soothing and refreshing and rinsing your joints, your muscles, the fascia. Through your legs, through your knees, through your calves, buzzing around your ankles, vibrating and rinsing you from all of the tension you didn't know your body was holding for you. All the way down to your toes and into the ground, and we thank the earth for receiving and recycling everything that no longer serves And with every breath, we feel a little bit longer, lengthened, freer, as if our own petals were spreading, as if our own leaves were reaching and expanding. And that golden light in your heart that is so lit with love and life and vitality, it actually makes the plant you are envisioning radiate and vibrate and spread. And in your mind's eye, you see its expansion because that's what we are. With every breath, we fill up with vitality and love, and with every exhale, we're releasing what we don't need and celebrating as we observe with wonder. So the next couple moments, inhale, gratefully recognizing And sit a little bit taller, and exhale as you observe with wonder how everything that no longer is needed is flushed from your system, flushed from your space And this plant smiles along with your heart in this knowing Gratefully recognizing your thoughts Thoughts of gratitude, thoughts of observing with wonder and the feelings that expand around you Now, if you're going to sleep now, carry that into your dream life. If you are just beginning your day or continuing your day, I invite you to gather those thoughts and those feelings of gratefully recognizing and observing with wonder, and see what presents itself in your day, in your work, in your space, in your body, in your awareness. What is waiting to be recognized and observed and being appreciated as you grow and your day supports you through every breath, every step, and every moment So I invite you to gently start to wiggle your fingers and your toes if you are ready to continue on with your day Take a deeper intentional breath, then release it, and start to move your neck, your shoulders, your arms And start to reposition gently move your body And may everything that presents itself inspire your grateful recognition and your observing with wonder. And let's see what opens up and blooms in you and for you. I'll see you next time, folks. Keep Picturing Love as you G.R.O.W. Bye-bye.