I do not have green thumbs. I have the furthest thing from green thumbs possible. My family recently moved to a new house that has a beautiful flower garden (the former owner was an avid gardener), so I was both excited and overwhelmed with the task of managing it. I called in reinforcements (my mother, who is a great gardener) who was also a bit overwhelmed, so I realized I needed to figure this out for myself.
I was dealing with a lot of transition: unpacking, new commuting routes and timing, driving the kids places, plus the weather wasn't cooperating; it was about 6 weeks before I could actually tackle the garden. You can imagine what it looked like, much closer to a jungle than flower beds. The weeds and misplaced grass were everywhere! I couldn't tell what was flower, what was weed, it was just a huge mess. I was in a state of complete overwhelm and had no idea where or how to start.
So I used my yoga wisdom: Breathe. Come into the present moment. Just focus on one spot at a time. You don't need to finish everything, just do what you can. It doesn't need to be perfect, just do the best that you can.
So I decided to start with the front beds. I started pulling weeds. Some I knew were weeds. Some I wasn't sure. I decided in the end, it didn't matter, I was just trying to tidy up to see what was there. I could always fill in gaps later with flowers that I could choose. Or not. I focused on my breath. I just pulled out one weed at a time and didn't worry about the rest of the yard. Whatever got done, got done. I wasn't trying to impress anyone, just trying to de-jungle my yard so that my family and I could enjoy it. In the end, I did most of the front yard (4 beds), battled some nasty vines, grass, errant oak tree saplings and thorns and ended up with a yard that doesn't look half bad!
I focused on one thing at a time rather than worrying about doing everything. I just started with one spot which gave me the momentum to do almost the whole front yard. I didn't worry about doing it "right" or "perfectly," I did the best I could and was pretty happy with the result. I don't know if some of the weeds I pulled were flowers, or if some of the plants I left were weeds. I will figure that out as I go. I can always add or subtract at a later time, but for now, I like how things look.
Sometimes a task seems so big, that we can't even start, don't know how or where to start. The overwhelm is too big and too, well, overwhelming. Yoga and meditation teach us to be in the moment. To just focus on what is happening now. If you can find just one step to take, that might be enough, or it will give you some momentum to do more than you thought was possible. I still have more yard to do, but now I feel like I can handle it. I just have to breathe and take it one step at a time.
Janine L. Agoglia has been teaching Vinyasa yoga since 1998. Her yoga journey started in 1995 with Iyengar Yoga and she stumbled upon Vinyasa yoga in 1997. The combination of breath with proper body alignment is what fuels Janine's practice and the classes that she teaches. She believes that yoga should be safe as well as challenging, creative and fun. She always emphasizes proper alignment within the flow, as well as focus, breath and humor to help students find the balance between strength and ease. Deepening one’s physical awareness helps one strengthen his/her spiritual awareness and mind-body connection. Janine loves being able to help people deepen their own practices, finding yoga in everyday life, on and off the mat. Her DVD, “Vinyasa Yoga for Regular People” is available for purchase at the front desk at Lumina Mind Body Studios in Wayland, MA.
In addition to being Director of Yoga at Lumina Mind Body Studios in Wayland and Natick, Janine is also a Licensed acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist who practices at Integrative Therapeutics in Natick. To contact Janine, please email her at acuyogamama@hotmail.com or visit her website www.acuyogamama.com.
