I recently spent an amazing weekend as part of a women’s retreat in Sedona lead by Anahata Ananda https://www.shamangelichealing.com/. We spent one morning on a land journey and learned what the land had to teach us.
One of the most important lessons I walked away with was the lesson of the Manzanita bush.
Because the plant grows in a desert climate, water is often hard to come by. The plant then chooses where to place its energy and which branches to give that energy to, therefore giving the plant the highest possibility of success.
I thought the branches that were brown and not the robust red color were in trouble, perishing. Anahata taught us the exact opposite was instead taking place.
If the bush gave its energy to every part of itself, then it would not have enough energy to create the small berries that look like apples, hence the name “manzanita.” If the plant does not create these berries and drop them on the ground to propagate more plants, the species ceases to exist.
The plant is intelligent enough to have part of the bark remain dormant, which does not in any way mean it is dead. The part that has the best chance of helping the overall plant live, then gets the tougher red coat. By directing it’s energy to the parts of the plant that will bring the best outcome, the entire plant survives.
The lesson for me here was that if I honed in my energy and my attention to things that will help me thrive and allow the ones that can be “dormant” to stay that way as long as needed, my overall energy level and opportunity to grow will be greater.
It is not possible to give our full attention to everything and not expect ourselves to become depleted in the process. By remembering what the Manzanita has to teach us, we can focus our attention on the things that need it at the moment, and come back to those which can “lay dormant” until the time is right.
