To find inner balance and harmony with the world, learn from the bee, who gives generously and receives abundantly.
Nature has its way of making sure everything stays in balance. As animals inhale oxygen, they exhale carbon dioxide, and thus the plants can take in the carbon dioxide for their nourishment, providing us with the oxygen we need as their by-product.
Each animal has another animal or plant that it eats for sustenance, and every animal or plant has its predator. This way, the ecosystem stays mostly in harmony, unless big changes come and affect the area, such as climate change, human intervention, or natural disasters. In all balanced systems, there is give and take.
The Wisdom of the Bee and the Flower
Bees have their own way of contributing to the harmony of the greater ecosystem. They are seen during the warm seasons fervently hopping from flower to flower, taking in the nectar that they need for their own strength, as well as what is needed for the hive and their offspring.
But they’re not just taking the nectar – the nectar is the flower’s gift for the exchange of pollen between flowers that the bees provide, as they dance to and fro amongst the blossoms. Without the pollen being carried between flowers, most flora would perish. And without the nectar, so would the bees. Both the bees and the flowers are constantly giving and receiving, and this helps both of them to flourish.
It’s strange that somehow this natural balance of giving and receiving gets lost with us humans. There are times when it feels like someone is taking, taking, taking from you – or from the planet and there’s little that comes back.
Do you ever feel like you give too much? Or, do you feel like you aren’t allowed many opportunities to give, because someone else always is? We may feel more comfortable in one role – as giver or as receiver – than the other. But the way to feeling balanced and whole, both within oneself and also as a part of a larger community, is to practice both receiving and giving.
Learning to Receive as Well as Give
Let yourself receive nurturance, support, love, and inspiration from others. Then consider, how can I find a way to pass this on to someone? How can I offer the benefit of what I just received to the larger community or planet? This is how we keep ourselves, our relations, and all of nature in a healthy balance.
If we drink a glass of milk, or eat a bowl of vegetables, reverently consider the gift of the cow or the plant it came from. Imagine the person who milked it or harvested it with respect and gratitude.
In drinking this glass of milk, allowing ourselves to be nourished by it, contemplate how you can nourish the heart of someone close to you. Then, reflect on how you can help replenish what you have taken from the land – maybe through planting a tree, or putting seed out for some birds.
The Practice of Giving and Receiving in Yoga
Take this practice onto your yoga mat. Each pose has a gift that it offers us. Do we sometimes resist its blessings, challenges, and insights? Open to receive deeply with each breath and movement. Then, explore what you give to your practice. Are you offering your full attention, or allowing yourself to get caught up in distractions? Do you do your best, or just try to get through the routine?
Give from your heart to your practice, holding back nothing, and you will receive far more. This doesn’t mean overexertion, but rather allows a full, complete experience of body, breath, heart, and consciousness. Giving fully and receiving deeply with each breath brings about transformation and awakening. Each pose is the flower you offer mindful, heartfelt embodiment to, and open to receive the nectar of yoga from.
Living in Gratitude and Reciprocity
Be like the bee, who is giving without even being conscious of it. Consider how a gift graciously received brings joy to the giver. Sometimes you’re giving back just by being appreciative of what is given to you. It warms a person’s heart to know that something they’ve done for someone else made a difference. Open to receive what is given with joy and gratitude.
Then, when you’re giving to someone else, take in with gratitude the honor of being able to give. Notice how giving from feeling full and overflowing with gratitude also nourishes yourself. Like the bee and the flower, you are more radiant and sweet from both the giving and receiving.
