Did you know that mindful breathing is one of the main pathways to health? Mindful breathing is a path to well being. Practicing it consciously makes you more aware but less-fearful. And mindfully breathing into spring brings you closer to the season and its beauty! It’s all about self-acceptance—you are part of this beautiful world!
Pink piques our attention—it’s the first warm breath of spring! Color’s everywhere we look. Color awakens our sight, graces every vantage point. At the height of the season after pink-flowered trees, then violet or purple-colored and white trees appear. Pink blooms, like the really hardy and early yellow ones, imply that the weather’s going to change soon. You might recall the chill of late winter days in March. Then the forsythias burst into golden blooms. A few weeks later, we have warm-er weather, if only by degrees!
A number of pink, yellow and white-flowered trees have herbal medicine or foraged food counterparts. We don’t recognize some trees as food for the body, but they have mood-altering color that affects our psyche in a positive way.
You might agree with me that the color pink represents the color red, with a bit of light mixed in to get just the right shade. When red, blue, or yellow are combined with light, we’re witnessing a form of prana. Prana, according to Ayuvrvedic philosophy, is a name for the planet’s energy or life-force. Prana enervates all life forms, and infuses them with variety.
Colors are one expression of prana, the dynamic energy that motivates and invigorates life. The color pink represents the color red filled with a lot of space for light—and we perceive it as light red, or pastel.
Red signifies many things across human cultures. But one thing is sure, red evokes heart, a generous spirit, and basic vitality. And at the tenderest moment, tinted pink, red becomes that subtle but essential space of the breath.
All the physicality of growing and changing with the seasons is informed by energy or prana. Sunlight and its warmth, the cooling dew of rain, nurturing soil, its vitamins and minerals, for example. In one way, the prana we see or experience is channeled into flowers.
Prana, deeply infusing pink with nourishment, whispers intelligently: Love This!
Inhale deeply. Every year Magnolia blossoms are rich and bright. The pink blooms in the image above are from a species (type) of Magnolia commonly called Saucer Magnolia. It’s ornamental character is very popular. Another species has creamy-colored velvety blossoms, known as Magnolia grandiflora (grand-for large, and flora-for bloom or flower). Having remedies for digestion and nerves, Magnolia grandiflora has medicinal value according to Chinese Herbal Medicine.
Flowers on trees in early to mid-spring are so beautiful to behold, with benefits almost akin to forest-bathing. If only for a moment, forget your cares and breathe deeply into the flower show. And when you do, gratitude brings beauty closer to you. Indeed beauty then follows our breath.
Love and be loved! A human among other beings—the animals and plants—on the planet, you are part of this beautiful world. Love, and you are loved in return.
