Sunflowers and Sunbeams

By Bonnie Starr Mandell-Rice 

Back behind our house where I walk my dogs are acres and acres of sunflowers.   I love seeing them each morning.  There must be a hundred thousand or more of them, and each time I see them I am reminded of the rich abundance of the Universe.  It is not just their plentitude, however, that I notice these days but how their faces are always turned toward the sun, wherever it is on its path, and how their upturned faces create a blanket of golden-yellow across dull green and grey of the land. 

These sunflowers are not only metaphors for abundance but for living in the Light, in the Radiance of the One whom some call God.  When we lift up our hearts and our minds to God, we are uplifted, and when we turn our faces toward God, we are bathed in the Light of the One.  The more often we do this, the more the Light penetrates and heals us.  It literally enlightens us – as it infuses our cells and our energy bodies, it lightens our “loads,” whatever they may be, and brightens our outlook so that we experience more joy.   

I find that the simple act of closing my eyes, lifting my face, and imagining the Sun (a metaphor for the Divine) that is blazing eternally above my head, is sufficient to give me a quick infusion of joy and to clear any clouds (dreary, limiting thoughts) that may be drifting through my mind.  Try it now for yourself (it will only take a minute or two):

Close your eyes. Turn your face or lift your eyes (still closed) upward. Imagine the brilliantly glowing Sun above your head. 

See the Light – golden, white or platinum beams - streaming down from the Sun and touching your face. 

Allow the Light to wash over you.  Feel it flowing down your entire body and then through you.

See and feel yourself washed clean of all your worries and sorrows and filled with the Light.   

Then, when you are ready, take a deep breath, open your eyes and SMILE!

If, when you close your eyes, you notice there are clouds between you and the Sun, blocking some of the Light streaming toward you, simply without forcing anything, allow the Sun to warm the clouds, causing them to evaporate, dissipate, or simply drift away, leaving a clear opening for the Light to reach you. 

You also can do this brief process anytime you are experiencing any discomfort (of whatever kind and by whatever name you call it – sorrow, worry, unhappiness, grief, sadness, anger, hurt, limiting thoughts, etc.).  Simply add the following step after first seeing the Sun above you.

Notice where the discomfort is in your body, and with your imagination and intention, move the discomfort (including all the related thoughts and emotions) from your body into the clouds above you.  Then proceed as before to allow the Sun to warm those clouds, causing them to evaporate, dissipate, or simply drift away, leaving a clear opening for the Light to reach you. 

Do this simple process often – even if you are not experiencing discomfort, just to give yourself a Light infusion.  Be like the sunflowers – keep your face always turned toward, and your heart and mind lifted up to, the Sun/the Divine.  When you do, you will radiate that Light and illuminate all that you experience.  As more and more of us do this, we like the sunflowers in the fields behind my house, will form a blanket across the Earth, one that will transmute and transform all that seems dark and dreary into greater and greater expressions of life, love and joy.

COPYRIGHT: @ Bonnie Starr Mandell-Rice 2009. This article may be reprinted provided that the complete article and this copyright information are included. This article will be archived at www.transformativecoaching.net.