Ok so you have planted a seed, done. Yes you did, remember: “your Sankalpa”, your intention, you did it… right? Phewww, you scared meeeee for a second!! ;-) When we plant a seed, we indeed cover it with soil or potting mix, we don’t exactly “burry” it 10 feet under or chances are that you’ll forget all about it, within days or even hours, and the saddest thing… it will never EVER grow! Although it had the potential… You get my point? I don’t have a green thumb – mine is truly pink – but I have watched my boyfriend Pat look after his plants, the grass in the garden, planting new seeds and the result is pretty amazing! By now, believe me, I know all about the theory, I really do. But guess what? There is no secret or magic formula, commitment and dedication is ALL-YOU-NEED, focus and discipline, whatever terms resonate with you more. So what to do next after you plant a seed?
* keep feeding it: water water and… water!
* check it benefits from the right temperature
* give it some sun
* give it some love
* keep checking on it every day
* give it a bit extra love if the growth is rather slow or if it doesn’t look too good
And after a while, depending on how well you have looked after your seed, depending on the nature of the seed also, hurray!!! all these efforts do pay off: the seedling starts emerging! It is how it works isn’t it, when you put the right energy into something, you often get rewarded. Sometimes though, be prepared for a seed to never grow, it happens and we should acknowledge that reality. It just means you have to try again. But often and soon after showing a sign of growth, some leaves will start developing, and you’ll then need to provide a more suitable environment to encourage good roots and a healthy growth:
* ensure it gets enough light
* give it some supplemental feeding (maybe)
* move it into a larger pot
* you may have more than one seedling growing in the same pot, so you’ll either have to separate them into individual pots or cut off all but the strongest one
* you may have to remove dead leaves as these still use up energy from the plant
If you keep looking after your seedling, you should get stocky, healthy young plants in a reasonable amount of time. The plant will get stronger and stronger, it will develop new ramifications and will mature until it gets ready to move out in the garden, and eventually down the track for transplant! What does look like a gardening lesson is nothing less but a few hints to cultivate your Sankalpa, the same rules apply, nothing more nothing less. The Sankalpa you have established earlier this year is your seed, take the first necessary steps to bring it to the surface, one step at a time. There is no need to be too greedy, whatever goal you want to reach, you need to be patient, you need to be active about it and persevere! It may take months before seeing your seed sprout, you may need to revisit your approach, refine your goal, you may stumble into new opportunities and have to give up avenues that haven’t proved themselves… But the key to your success is to keep watering your seed, give it some love, more light, less warmth, be flexible, be open to try new tactics and be ready to welcome positive changes into your life, expect the unexpected, if everything was so predictable it wouldn’t be worth it! ;-)
I strongly encourage you to physically plant a seed, a real one, and associate it mentally and symbolically to your Sankalpa. During the process, while you go to a nursery to buy your seed, some potting mix and a pot, have a think about your intent: is this intention what is really important to you right now? is it where you want your life to head towards this year and beyond? Also think about what are the next actions to take to start bringing your Sankalpa to life? After you have planted your beyoutiful seed, when you see your pot every day, containing this seed, full of potential, when you water it, feed it, think of what you can do to nurture your Sankalpa in the same way you nurture your seed. All this came to mind when I strived to grow Aloe Vera shoots given to me in Cape Tribulation. I was badly sunburnt and decided to get away from the sun for a bit so I went to visit this Vanilla Farm owned by a retired couple. The lovely lady offered to me a few branches of her gorgeous Aloe Vera plant for me to apply on my burnt skin. I never saw fresh Aloe Vera before so I was intrigued by her healing advice. She ended up giving me two little shoots of Aloe Vera to take home. When I came back to Melbourne I didn’t plant them straight away, however I got very attached to these little things and was willing to make them grow. It took a while, a few years, but I finally managed to… with a little bit of assistance I have to admit ;-) Every day I check if the plant is healthy, if it is not, I try to figure out what it needs. I also associate it to my Sankalpa and it helps me nourish it and fine-tune it… The Aloe Vera plant is so much bigger and stronger than it was! It definitely had its ups and downs, lots of downs, when I didn’t know what to do to get it back into shape, but it made it! I now have three more shoots!!! See for yourself and please share your upcoming story later on… :-)
