Love is in the Air

“In spring time, love is carried on the breeze.”

- Emma Racine de Fleur

I went to a dinner party at a friend’s home the other night and was stopped in my tracks as I approached her front door. The blooming flowers were exquisite, vibrant color was everywhere, and a wonderful scent filled the air. I suddenly noticed that spring is here. I guess in my busy-ness, I’d barely paid attention to what season we’re in, but I’m happy that the sight and smell of the flowers woke me up to spring.

So this explains why I’ve been feeling that love is in the air. There is a such a strong connection between springtime and love. In spring, as the earth is being reborn, we feel a sense of renewal and hope. In this time of Easter and Passover, we’re reminded of rebirth, freedom and new beginnings. And with the sense of a fresh start, we open more to love.

Let’s take advantage of the energy of the season, and bring that feeling of renewal and love into our lives every day. How do we do that?

The best way I know is to begin each day with a sense of “fresh start” through meditation, prayer or silence.

Recently, Marianne Williamson and I were speaking at the same conference. In her talk, she emphasized the importance of spiritual practices, especially as a way to start our day.

She said “Every serious spiritual, philosophical and religious path that I know of stresses the importance of the morning, because that’s when our minds are most open to receive new impressions. Most people get up in the morning and pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV or radio. They get a full report of all the disasters happening, and then they add caffeine! They saunter out into the world and are mystified that they’re depressed by noon.

So what’s the alternative? When you wake up in the morning, don’t you take a bath or shower? Of course you do — because you don’t want to go out into the day with yesterday’s dirt on your body. But if you don’t meditate and pray every morning, you’re carrying yesterday’s stress into the day.”

While meditating and praying feels good, you don’t just meditate or pray for the experience you have while you’re doing it. Spiritual practice helps you experience a sense of oneness, of connectedness to all other things and beings, which connects you to the state of unconditional love.

Daily meditation has become universally accepted as a powerful way to release stress and anxiety and to improve your mental, emotional, and physical health. When you start the day connected to love, you can handle everything else in the day more effectively.

Try this at the beginning of every day for the next week or two (and notice how you feel through the day):

1. When you wake up, spend 2 minutes feeling gratitude for the day. Think of the upcoming day and what you’re grateful for.

2. After you’ve gotten up and showered, sit for 10 – 20 minutes in a quiet area and mediate or pray. If you have a meditation or prayer practice, great! But you don’t have to have a formal practice. You can simply put your attention on your heart area and breathe in love and ease. You don’t need to try to get rid of thoughts or effort to achieve anything. Just sitting in silence automatically allows your mind to settle down, which helps your body release stress and helps your heart connect to love.

This is a way you can make each morning a new springtime. I promise that you’ll feel more love in the air, and the roses will even smell better to you.

With love for no reason and every reason,