Mindful weeding

When Horace wrote that “He who has begun has half done”, I don’t think he accounted for weeding. Maybe they didn’t do weeding in ancient Rome.

Weeding, like meditation, is ongoing, so I spent Sunday afternoon playing with the potential of a mindful weeding practice. Given that meditation is the process of turning attention “towards one’s moment-to-moment experience” (Paramanada, 2007), there are endless ways to practise. As I knelt amidst the weeds, with my hands digging and sifting earth from roots, I felt my mind slowing and opening.

Then my practise shifted to something more focused: What weeds were clogging the garden of my mind? Was each ‘weed’ shallow and easy to pull out or like bindweed, deep-rooted and persistent? I began to think with the place: Where do the root networks lead? What feeds them? Is it even a ‘weed’ at all?

According to a rule of thumb from The Times, deep-rooted weeds thrive in poor soil, while shallow-rooted weeds prefer fertile soil. It seems that mental weeds are much the same, so remember to feed you mind.

References