Removing the Weeds
The B. Well garden is growing! I am amazed! As a novice gardener, I was not confident that anything would grow; but, then…IT DID! I went from a patch of dirt to a patch of dirt with plants growing from it. It is a beautiful experience!
Plants were blossoming in a row and growing outside the rows. As I am new to gardening, I hesitated to pull the weeds because I could not differentiate between the weeds I did not want and the plants I wanted. I concluded that I would wait a few weeks for everything to grow more before I started weeded the garden. Within two weeks, I could distinguish the plants from the weeds. With the help of my assistant, Ellesse, and my awesome interns, Saniah and Kimmy, I weeded the garden….and that got me thinking about weeding in every aspect of life.
Weeds are “wild plants growing where they are not wanted and compete with cultivated plants.” I realized that wild things grow in every aspect of our lives, and we must intentionally remove weeds from our minds, bodies, and spirits. As an integrative wellness and life coach, I will explore weeding in the four areas of well-being:
Mental
It is often said, “Your mind is a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers, or you can grow weeds.” Mental weeds include negative thoughts, engaging in toxic images or music (ex., pornography, music with negative messages), and living in the past (depression) or in the future (anxiety). Remember, what you put in your mind is what will come out. What are the weeds in your mind that impede your mental health? Be intentional about protecting your mind. Listen to upbeat music, place affirmations around your desk and home, speak kindly to yourself, focus on the positives, and practice gratitude. Plant positivity throughout your life.
Emotional
Emotional weeds develop when we stay stuck in “negative” feelings for too long. Feeling angry, sad, disappointed, depressed, or even anxious sometimes is normal and healthy. However, ruminating on those feelings is unhealthy. Get out of the weeds! Staying angry about the past will negatively affect your life. Weed the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s from your emotional garden. To grow the emotional flowers of love, acceptance, joy, peace, and abundance, you must pull the weeds of anger, disappointment, and judgment from your life. Weeding is hard work. Gordon B. Hinckley reminds us, “Without hard work, nothing grows but the weeds.” Though it might be difficult to release it, because letting go is hard, it is necessary for you to feel good again.
Physical
Toxic relationships, unhealthy food, disorganization, or unfulfilling work are some of the weeds in the physical aspect of our lives. If we want to experience more productivity, it behooves us to create an organization where there is a mess. This might mean organizing your car or garage or cleaning up your house. It could also suggest removing the weeds of negative people from your intimate circle. Remember, pulling the weeds has everything to do with reaching your highest potential.
Gardeners have to remove the weeds because weeds have the potential to suffocate or overwhelm the plants. The weeds get in the way! The weeds have to go! To meet your weight goals, you must remove the weeds of junk food from your home and replace it with healthy foods that honor your body. To attract a new relationship, you have to pull the weeds of the old one out of your garden. Pulling the weeds does not mean just getting out of the relationship; it includes getting rid of the mental and emotional stuff that the relationship likely left behind: unforgiveness, resentment, anger, and negative thoughts. Eliminate the things you don’t need. They will hinder your growth.
Spiritual
There are also weeds in our spiritual lives. It is essential to clear your energy regularly. Otherwise, the spirit of depression, unforgiveness, poverty, abuse, or laziness can overtake your life. Clearing your energy should be a daily practice. There are lots of options to cleanse yourself spiritually. These include:
Prayer.
Meditation.
Burning sage in your home.
Practicing forgiveness.
Wearing crystals.
Mindfulness.
These are just a few of the many options. Pick one and add it to your daily routine.
Remember, removing the weeds has to be part of the gardening process. Where there are flowers, there will be weeds. It is your job to commit to removing the weeds regularly. I am here if you need support in learning to tend to your mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical garden. Tend to your garden. Keep growing!
Your favorite gardener,
Dr. Adrianne R. Pinkney
Integrative Wellness & Life Coach
