Cherry blossom is also known as one of the Bach flower remedies and it calms excessive feelings and fears. Flowers, according to the spiritual research of Rudolf Steiner and Heinz Grill, are closely related to the life of the human soul.
In the blossom’s whole form, which we can experience as a kind of gesture towards the light and the sun, certain specific soul virtues are expressed. Allowing this form to work on us in the sense of a soul exercise enables an inner understanding of its essence to mature in us.
With the term, soul-exercises, Heinz Grill describes a broad palette of exercises, which can serve to activate and harmonize the three soul-forces of the thinking, the feeling and the will. This includes, in the simplest sense, looking back on the day in a way in which one’s own individuality can be identified more objectively and clearly in relation to the outer world and to others. But also contemplation-exercises on the plant world, on the weather conditions and other natural phenomena train the ability for more objective awareness, which in turn builds the foundation for expanding our capacity to be aware of the ”super-sensory“ realm.
“An exercise in which the attention is dedicated for a specific time to a concrete matter, object or idea is a soul-exercise or consciousness-exercise. Through the dedication calmness and inwardness occurs. The thinking becomes separate from the desire-life and the will-life. This subtle separation leads to new insights and impressions. The soul reveals itself as being of light.”
From »Harmony in Breathing«
The ability developed through the soul-exercises of training the awareness freely and objectively and of building thought, as well as the development of concentration this produces, are fundamental for joyfully and successfully following an esoteric path of training.
Descriptions of some soul exercises can be found in:
