Spring is on the horizon here in Colorado. As I walk around my neighborhood, I see snowdrops and grape hyacinth beginning to poke their heads from out of the earth and blossoming forth with beautiful color and sweet fragrances. I hear the birds chirping from the branches of the trees where new buds can be seen.
As the season of spring arrives in full bloom, it offers us the gift of healing, transformation, and renewal. It’s a wonderful time for some spring cleaning!
Spring cleaning not only in our physical surroundings, but also within ourselves. It’s a good time to take stock and see what we need to release so that the new may blossom within us.
I always like to turn to St. Hildegard who can offer us some words of wisdom for our inner spring cleaning during this time of year.
She shares the words that she wrote in a letter of correspondence to a young Benedictine nun, Elisabeth of Schoengau, about moderation as a key to a healthy life.
“Listen, then, …..and learn moderation! For moderation is the mother of all the virtues for everything heavenly and earthly. For it is through moderation that the body is nourished with the proper discipline….
When there are unseasonable downpours, the fruit and vegetables growing on Earth are damaged; when a field has not been plowed, you do not find good grain springing up…
It’s the same with a person who lays on herself more strain than her body can endure. This is a sign that the effects of holy discretion are weak in such a person…” -St.Hildegard of Bingen
With these words, St. Hildegard uses nature as a metaphor to remind us of the virtue of moderation and how to find a healthy balance in our lives.
In nature, we can see the effect of too much or too little. Too much or too little sun, rain, and activity. This affects the plants in a negative way. Without balance, the fruits and vegetables would be damaged. A lack of activity in not plowing the field would lead to the grains not sprouting.
So, we see the wisdom of the balance that exists in between the extremes.
Where is it that you might need more balance in your life?
When we’re in balance, we’re empowered to be our best self. We’re guiding our own path in the world. The excess of activity or inactivity doesn’t take control of us.
Next time you take a walk outside, look around at nature. Consider the life cycle of nature throughout the year. How does balance arrive through the seasons for the plants?
Have a dialogue with your higher self or spirit guides. Where would more balance in your life benefit you?
Where could you bring a little more balance in your life to be healthier and happier each day?
See what answers arise for you.
Finding more balance in our lives nourishes us. It rejuvenates our energy and allows us to be more receptive to new opportunities that arise.
Energy for life bubbles up within us.
Inspirations arise.
Illnesses are healed.
Remember each time you head outside, Mother Nature, as a wise teacher, can be our reminder about finding balance in our lives. And St. Hildegard might whisper in your ear too about the queen of virtues, moderation.
So many guides are here to help us!
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