Best Thing I Bought in 2009 (Space for Alone Time)

A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them. ~ Liberty Hyde Bailey

I find peace surrounded by plants and trees. My entire life I have gravitated towards sun rooms and since the days of my 1st apartment, have wanted a sun room, a space for myself and all of my beloved plants. This year, we built one onto the house and I have just started to move into it. Even though it's only half way moved into, I feel comforted in this space. My sun room feels like a cabin with cedar on the walls, plants lining the windows, and wind chimes moving with the wind outside. This is my own personal heaven.

My in-laws have a sun room and every time I visit I curl up on the wicker love seat and take a nap. I don't typically nap, but the plants combined with the warmth of the sun somehow give me the permission to let go. During this year's Thanksgiving visit, my six year old daughter found her way into my in-laws sun room and curled up on the wicker sofa. Shortly after she was comfortable, my son walked in and sat down across from her, taking it all in. Suddenly my daughter yelled out,"This is MY alone time, you need to leave!"

This is EXACTLY how I feel when someone steps foot into my sun room. I will share it, however, even though I don't want to. I think my entire family feels the peace radiating from the plants and I am pretty certain the plants enjoy my daughter's singing, my son's silly jokes, and my husbands abundance of awesomeness, but I still must have my alone time. We all need alone time.

When I do have my sun room to myself, this is the perfect space for mindful meditation, beginning with a pranayama practice, followed by focusing on one plant or the sway of a wind chime outside of one of the windows. My favorite pranayama to practice before meditation is Nadhi Sodhana. The object I focus on depends on what catches my eye first and the length of the meditation depends on the circumstances of the day. My hope is that this gift I bought myself this year will turn into a more regular meditation practice from here on out. I'm pretty sure a regular meditation practice is going on my list of things to accomplish in 2010.

Namaste'