MEDITATION AND THE BEE

We had a cold winter and I was feeling stressed and upset as I walked through my garden. There was so much work to be done. The Florida cold snaps had frozen alot of my tropical plants; Bananas, Hawaiian Ti, Elephant Ears, Crotons and Hibiscus. The chickens and peacocks had managed to tear up the sidewalk while scouring for bugs, not to mention the goats latest rampage which resulted in them feasting on the Mexican Heather, Angel Trumpet and Chinese Fan.

Where would I find the time to redo my whole garden? I walked into my meditation area and found that the Sea Grapes and Rubber Plants had also expired. Even my smiling monk looked pissed off because he was wearing last years' mardi gras beads. The pond was filled with leaves and the pump had stopped.

I sat on my meditation bench and wondered where I would find the time...I haven't even had time to meditate. Meditate on it was the answer that came from nowhere. Sure, I'll meditate on not having enough time to meditate, sounds redundant to me.

I was reminded of a time years ago driving back from the beach with a Christian friend. I was complaining about being late for my night job. She asked me if I had prayed about it. Her comment annoyed me, at that time I was not close to her God and it seemed like worthless advice to me.

My daily meditation practice has been "hit and miss". How do busy people find time to meditate?Everyone has at least 15 minutes a day, right? There was that answer again: Meditate on it.

Was my mind just playing a silly game? I glanced at my watch, 4:16. I wanted to see how long I could actually sit still in meditation. I closed my eyes and tuned into my senses.

Starting with far away noises, I could hear a plane rumbling up in the thick clouds, a motorcycle accelerating, the Kaw! Kaw! of a crow in the distance. My mind started to wander, so I went back to my breath. Slow breath in for 8, slow breath out for 8. I heard the rhythmic tap-tap-tapa-tapa-taptaptap of a woodpecker, the hens scuffling about in the leaves, the vibrating of the peacock feathers in his mating dance. Then I heard a faint buzzing that grew louder and closer.

I opened my eyes and was face to face with a bumble bee. He was "treading air" right in front of me, making no attempt to leave. It was like one of those Disney animations where the characters jump out at you and you feel as though you can reach out and touch them. But this was real and he was so close that I could see his wings rotating, and his little hairy legs curled up under him, I could even see two black antenna on top of his head. I wondered why he was so fascinated with me. Did he see multiple "me's" like The Fly in the 1958 horror movie? It seemed like this would be a staring contest. Maybe I could wait him out, don't some insects live only for one day? I closed my eyes, but curiosity had me quickly open them again and he was still there!

I relaxed a little and started to marvel at the tiny creature. Every once in a while, another bee would come by and both bees would buzz around and speed fly all around me. This was probably some sort of bee tango, but I like to thank that my bee was rescuing me from getting stung. My bee in shining armor - if you would.

I closed my eyes and went back to my breath. Each time that I opened my eyes, he was still there. Maybe I should be afraid of getting stung. Should I protect myself by making myself look bigger? No, that was for bear encounters!

I thought he was a cool character and wanted to check him out too. So we went on like this for a while, me getting sneak peeks, and Bee just blatantly staring at me. I began to think that there must be some type of meaning here, was this a lesson for me? Maybe the Four Noble Truths? Vipassana? Entomology? or a Spirit Animal sighting?

Now more bees joined him and there were at least half a dozen. But each time he would lead them away in the bumble bee dance and come back to stare at my face. I loved this little bee and our time together but all good things must come to an end and I had feeding chores to do. I glanced at my watch as I got ready to leave, and it was 5:55 (I will save the significance of this time for another blog). I had actually been able to sit for well over an hour. It may not have been meditation, but I didn't experience any monkey mind and did concentrate on my breath. Now if only I could find the time to practice yoga daily!

HERE ARE SOME BUMBLE BEE FACTS:

The average lifespan of a bee is 28 days.

Bees can see color, and their site is their Super Power because they can see UV light - this gives them an advantage when seeking nectar.

A male bee is called a drone.

Male bees do not have a stinger. The female bumble bee can sting you multiple times because she does not lose her stinger like ordinary bees do.

Bumble Bees wings beat 130 or more times per second. In comparison, the average for a hummingbird is around 53 times per second.

One third of our global food supply is pollinated by bees. See my blog Save The Bees for the importance of bees to our ecosystem.

BUMBLE BEE AS A SPIRIT ANIMAL:

If this is your power animal and your energy is scattered, the bumble bee can show you how to become focused again. If you are stung, the message is WAKE UP! Follow the rhythm of your own heartbeat. Listen to your true self, your higher self. Heed your inner voice and wisdom. Busy bees are hard workers but always remember to "stop and smell the roses every day." All your hard work means nothing if you don't get to enjoy the rewards. When life gets stagnant, so does your spirit. Bee is the master of miracles. The bee is not aerodynamically designed to be able to fly, but they really wanted to fly and adapted so they could!

I'd say this was a great Spirit Animal to encounter. I haven't been back to visit the bee, we had another cold snap recently and I just wanted to cherish our first encounter. Sounds silly.... but if you have ever spent 90 minutes bonding with a bee, you will know what I mean.

Keep Dreaming,

Coleen

Resources: www.elitedaily.com

www.mentalfloss.com

www.pure-spirit.com

whatsmyspiritanimal.com

www.beeculture.com

wikipedia.org