"The Lotus is the Jewel."
The sacred lotus flower reminds the soul of the healing power of practicing reverence. Reverence is to honor, without condition. In a world where it seems like we can have whatever we want, whenever we want: dating has become a swipe of a picture with countless options of men or women; shopping has become a 2-second Amazon search that is delivered to our doorstep in a blink of an eye….it is easy to forget the preciousness of all things: the serendipity of finding exactly what you need at the store, or buying what is there if they don’t have what you need, and being appreciative and grateful for when you do get what you want. Dating and relationships, too, seem to be seen as fleeting and underappreciated. With divorce more common than marriage, even the sanctity of partnership is replaced with questions of wondering “what the next best thing” is or a general accepting of “Eh, if it isn’t perfect, I can find something new. No biggie.”
This mentality brings stress to the mind, body and soul as practicing reverence allows us to really understand and appreciate the gift that is life and all the presents of people, places and things that bless our lives. Reverence and honor ask us to simply be and be grateful as oppose to yearn or want more.
These days, it seems our society is quick to toss out and find something (or someone) new as opposed to honoring what we have. We are quick to complain or live in the past or future fantasizing about a life or scenario that is not real. Here we are losing the sacred moments of the life we currently have. Often times, we then miss what we had and did not honor it when we had it. This causes more suffering to the mind, body and soul.
When we practice reverence: we see all things and all experiences as gifts: as rare and as invaluable. This practice of honor allows the soul to live in the here and now. It allows the chemicals in the brain to emit healthy feelings linked with gratitude. It allows the world to feel more peace and connected as people, things, places,and ideas become appreciated, listened to, and honor as opposed to just passed over.
When Lotus comes into your life, she is asking you to cherish and prize all that is in your life: from the littlest things to the largest, can you show respect and appreciation for all that you have? Can you hold admiration for all the blessings in your life? From this place of respect, the world is yours. It is said that the sacred Lotus is one to help cure all alignments. I believe this is because she puts the energy of reverence within: she helps us be nothing but grateful, for whatever is going on in our life--however good or bad it may be---she reminds you we are alive, and that is a miracle. More so, she teaches that everything is a miracle and we must honor these miracles.The sun in the sky. The ant on the ground. The people in your life. The shape of your eyes. The way in which your body works. The thoughts in your head. Your dreams at night. The pencil in your junk drawer. All are a gift. All are something to hold in highest regard. How lucky are we to be alive?
For we only appreciate the pencil when we can’t find one and we need someting to write down. We only appreciate our feet, when we stumb our toe. We only practice resepct and deepest honor l for people we see every day when we don’t see them anymore.
It is also believed when you honor all and live in a way holding all things you have in high regard, you are continuously blessed with more miracles and more things to hold reverence for. Your heart becomes more open and feels safe and inspired.
Come to the Lotus flower to help you learn this powerful gift or to amplify your rituals and all of the practices you have already established that honor worshiping and honorings of (all/any) thing(s) in your life.
Lotus, as plant medicine, is also deeply potent because she holds the teachings of karma, cause and effect, and renewal and rebirth. She is one of the very few and rare flowers in the world that flower and seed at the same time. Most flowers come from seed, bloom into a flower and then give back seeds to Mother Earth. The Lotus simultaneously is blossoming flowers and creating seeds all of the time. Her energy is potent as she embodies the perfection of balanced giving and receiving. Seeds represent cause, the beginning, and potential. Any plant medicine made from seed (Sesame Seed, Cardamom Seed, Black Cumin Seed, for example) are friends to us to help us take action to lead to something: this medicine works as inspiration to start something and watch it grow. Flowers represent love, beauty, completion, success and achievement. Any plant medicine made from flowers (Lavender, Rose, Geranium, for example) give us happiness and peace. They teach us good things take time and will blossom through support of the Earth just as we will as humans. Flowers are proof of good: together (flower and seed) are proof of miracles: good seeds bring good flowers. Do you know how many seeds never make it to a flower? Flowers are the effect, the end result, of love and pure work. Seeds are the cause that got the flower there. Together, the medicines of the seed and the flower teach us the journey: they teach us we get we sow: they are living examples of karma and the power of cause and effect and the interconnectedness of all things: for after the flower blooms, it becomes a seed again.
To find a plant medicine or a plant that has both, flowers and seeds at the same time, is rare. The Lotus provides both of these medicines. She is unique, unlike any other, and her color and smell is the same. When you smell the Lotus, your brain will understand this message. How she smells is hard to describe. How she looks is hard to describe. Both are pure beauty unlike anything in this world.
Come to Lotus to learn to create good karma in your life, and in the same, learn to rewrite old karmas into positive ones. Lotus will teach you how to make good decisions as she will show the power of your causes and effects. She is a beautiful motivator for doing positive and living positive by being positive. She shows us how to use LOVE with all causes and receive LOVE with all effects.
Cultures have known about the sacredness of the vibration of the Lotus flower for lifetimes. For more than 5,000 years yogis have practiced the lotus posture: where the ankles rest on the thighs in a seated position to make with the body look like the Lotus flower. It is said the hands, feet, and legs represent the lotus and honor the flower. Lotus Pose (Padmasana) is considered the “ridder of all sins.” In the ancient yogic text, Hatha Yoga Parapidkia, sitting in this pose is also said to “be the destroyer of all diseases.” With this, this pose is said to bring one to the highest enlightenment and enjoy the highest bliss.
How does this pose work? The yogis always believed if we mimic nature with our bodies, we will learn the qualities of nature and embody them. This pose helps you be the Lotus and find it within yourself heart and soul.
There is also a Lotus Mudra: a gesture for your hands where our hands are mimicking the look of the lotus: place the sides of the hands on the pinky side and the sides of the hands on the thumb side together to create a cup-like shape with your hands. Slightly bend the fingers opening them as a flower. Meditate here sending reverence to all in your life and finding balance in all of the actions and results of all things that create your here and now.
Something else so special about the Lotus is she grows from mud. She is a flower full of the deepest beauty and comes in many colors from blue to bright pink to pure white to yellow, yet she grows from the muddiest conditions. In fact, if you tried to “take good care of her” meaning grow her in crystal clean water and give her a lot of attention, she would die. She grows in dirty, murky, “gross” conditions. From her, from this “past”, she is able to not only survive, but be one of the world’s most prized flowers. She is living proof that our darknesses..the muddy times of our lives... bring us pure beauty. They help us blossom into something far bigger and more beautiful than we could ever fathom. No one wants tragedy or hard times, yet we cannot deny that these things have made us into something beautiful. The hardest times of my life have made me the flower I am today, for if it wasn’t for my
bed-ridden-crazy-out-of-mind-mental-break-down-panic-stricten-mental-illness I would not be a yoga teacher, let alone anything else, anything else I am today. If it wasn’t for my heart-ache-lower than low-difficult and painful-hopless-past relationships, I would not know the love and relationship I have now. When you are in the mud, call on Lotus as she is a reminder that it will bring you great beauty.
Lotus plant medicine teaches us purity, self-generation, and ascension. I like to suggest this medicine for those struggling with letting go, those needing to honor the cycle of life, those grieving or having issues with the mortality of the body. She is powerful medicine to aid us when we need a re-birth and to start again or to move forward as she will help us do so. She is your friend, holding your hand, as you cycle through the continuous, infinite cycles of our many moments of life and of the soul on its many planes.
Lotus can have many petals: anywhere from 30 to 100. The lotus and its many petals are said to represent the brain (physically) and crown chakra (energetically) and for this reason is really healing brain and 7th chakra medicine helping us feel calm, faith and hope. Each petal is said to represent the steps on the journey towards enlightenment.
The Lotus is so powerful that there is even a sacred prayer written about her: Oṃ Maṇi Padme Hūṃ, a six syllable chant, dates back to the 5th century. It translates to “the lotus is the jewel.” It has been chanted and shared by various religious and traditions and translated in many, many languages for many, many lifetimes. When chanted, it honors that there is nothing more precious or of highest value than karma.