Öhrn Life Management

My poor plants on the balcony. They are being roosted in the scorching Thai sun.

Watering them is like giving the kiss of life.

Have you ever thought of how you ‘water yourself’ as you drink water? See if can turn the next mundane glass of water into a mini-Songkran celebration of the life-giving qualities of water.

1) Thank the rich source that allows you to poor a glass of water.

2) Close your eyes and send thoughts of gratefulness to the glass in front of you.

3) Keeping your eyes closed, bring the glass carefully to your lips.

4) As the first drops enter you month, feel how you invite this source of life to enter your being, topping up your existence.

What other drinks would benefit from mindfulness?

When our son joined us in this world we wanted to give him a special welcome. Coming from a Christian background a natural (but not obvious) welcoming ceremony was a Christening.

So on a cold and snowy day in February last year we gathered friends and family to a the grandiose cathedral of Stockholm, Storkyrkan, to give him a warm welcome.

During the ceremony the pregnant priest (yes, we have female priests in Sweden) wondered if I would do the honour of pouring the water that was to be used to bless our son into the baptismal font. The priest explained that as water symbolises the gift of life, this was a most suitable task for the mother, having carried and protected the son in water for all those months during the pregnancy, preparing him for this life.

I do not know if it was the baroque setting of the cathedral or the grand words, but I had difficulties keeping the water in my eyes in the right place. Or maybe it was God?

Anyways, the wonder of the gifts that water brings really dawned upon me then and there. Protection, purity – life.

‘In the North water even brings light’, I thought as we left the church and the snow reflected the last rays of sunlight, making the daylight linger for longer in the Stockholm twilight.

With seasonal inspiration I let Water be the flavour of the month.

Songkran. The Thai New Year is approaching. In its original sense this holiday is to give thanks to the water for all its wonderful gifts. For its purifying quality. For carrying us and our goods. For quenching our thirst. For giving us food.

For giving us life.

I think particularly about my pregnant students literally carry litres of water, surrounding their unborn ones. In this heat. Just waiting for the moment when the water will burst out of them, bringing their child forth.

My prenatal classes will take on more fluid movements, to honour this precious protection of my student’s unborn love.