You Can’t Plant Seeds in Wounded Soil

There are moments when I realize how easy it is to forget how powerful we truly are.

Yet it feels like more and more people are beginning to remember — waking up to the understanding that our thoughts, perceptions, and inner world shape the reality we experience around us.

Recently, I had a deeply insightful conversation with a dear friend about not only becoming aware of our thoughts, but also becoming aware of the lens through which we perceive life itself.

In many spiritual circles, there is a lot of discussion about planting intentions in the fertile soil of consciousness. But what if the soil itself is depleted? What if the ground of our consciousness is filled with old wounds, unconscious patterns, or emotional weeds? We can water our intentions with attention and effort, but if the foundational conditions are missing, those seeds may never fully break through the surface.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting deeply on this.

How am I perceiving the things that hold my attention?Am I seeing through the lens of lack, fear, or past hurt? Am I limiting a situation through my own judgments or assumptions?How am I listening — and from where within myself am I listening?

The same questions apply to how I speak, act, and relate to others.

This process is both humbling and transformative. It asks for compassion, honesty, and discipline.

For me, much of this awareness emerged through heated conversations with people I love. I became tired of feeling upset and emotionally drained. I could recognize the recurring patterns, but for a long time I couldn’t fully see my role in why they kept repeating themselves.

One of the most humbling realizations is this: much of what we experience externally is also reflected internally.

It reminds me of the first Hermetic principle: All is Mind.

Often, what we judge in others exists somewhere within ourselves too — even if it appears in subtler forms. That doesn’t mean we are “bad” or wrong. It simply invites deeper self-awareness and responsibility.

I want my gardens to thrive — my vegetable garden, my herbal garden, and my inner garden.

And I’ve realized that for this to happen, I get to become aware of the quality of consciousness in which I am planting my seeds.

I get to tend the soil.

(As a side note, I’ve intentionally shifted my language from saying “I have to” toward saying “I get to.” “Have to” carries the weight of obligation, while “get to” reminds me that life itself is a gift — an opportunity and a privilege.)

Interestingly, we are currently dismantling our greenhouse to create an entirely new design and growing system. And I can’t help but feel that this outer process mirrors what is happening within me.

There is a dismantling taking place.

And during dismantling, things can feel messy, overwhelming, confusing, and uncertain. Old wounds surface. Rage, grief, fear, and sadness can emerge unexpectedly.

But I’m beginning to understand that this is not a mistake.

It is part of the transformation.

Nature shows us this constantly. What is decaying is not wasted — it becomes compost. And compost nourishes new life.

Perhaps that is the process many of us are in right now collectively: dismantling old conditioning, composting inherited beliefs, and creating fertile ground for something more conscious to emerge.

One of the old ideas I believe humanity is being invited to release is the belief that the Earth belongs to us.

Personally, I no longer believe that.

I believe we belong to the Earth.

And when we slow down enough to observe her, listen to her, and be present with her, she teaches us how to live in harmony. She reminds us that life is cyclical, regenerative, interconnected, and sacred.

We are living in a time when many people are awakening to the possibility of creating lives that support and regenerate our Mother Earth rather than extract from her.

That gives me hope.

So my invitation is this:

Lean into the discomfort of your own transformation.Take responsibility for your feelings without shaming yourself for having them.Create spaces where your emotions can be safely expressed, witnessed, and transformed.Tend the soil of your inner world with the same care you would offer a garden.

Because the quality of the soil matters.

And the seeds we plant now — individually and collectively — will shape the world to come.

This week, we are honored to be holding the 10th Annual Seed Festival at our local feria in collaboration with Vida Auténtica and Regenerate Your Reality.

If you live near Tinamaste, Costa Rica we would love for you to join us this

Saturday, May 16th, from 9am–3pm.

And wherever you are in your own process, may you continue cultivating the rich and fertile soil needed for the seeds within you to truly thrive — both in your inner and outer gardens.

Some resources that have been supporting me through this season of dismantling and composting:

• Ishmael 

• Podcast: Human Nature Odyssey

Mucho Amor,

Amanda Luna