Updates
A chronological view of all updates and changes to tender.garden.
July 7, 2025
4 updates
Article: Damien Echols on the Philosopher's Stone
On his Patreon, Damien Echols published an article called What is the Philosopher's Stone?. It is about how The Philosopher’s Stone, a legendary symbol in Western esotericism, is not a physical object. It is presence itself: a crystallized state of conscious awareness in the present moment. Damien writes about how in medieval alchemy, the Philosopher’s Stone was believed to transmute lead into gold, heal all disease, grant immortality, illuminate the soul, and unite all opposites. And then he reveals that the Stone isn't what most people believe: "The Stone isn’t found in a flask or forged in a furnace. The Stone is presence." "It’s what happens when your awareness crystallizes. When your consciousness becomes so rooted in the moment, so refined by practice and discipline, that it no longer breaks apart under pressure. When it stops being scattered across past and future, and settles completely—entirely—into now." Damien goes on to explain how all the believed powers of the Stone are a metaphor for presence. "But here's the truth: you don’t need a laboratory to perform transmutation. You only need attention. Focused, disciplined, unwavering presence." "Sit with your anger without flinching, and it becomes insight. Sit with your grief long enough, and it ripens into compassion.
Presence
Being in the now. Not moving between past and future times in our head, but being 100% present in the current moment. - Meditation - Creative expression, e.g. drawing - Movement, e.g. dancing - Cutting off outside noise, e.g. through Low Dopamine Mornings - Deep Listening <Image src="/img/presence-depth.jpg" width="1280" height="956"
Time
For us, it is helpful to think of time as a state of consciousness. - Past: Thinking about and visualizing past experiences. - Present/Presence: Being in the here and now. - Future: Visualizing a time in the future. We suggest to observe the amount of time we spend in each of these states. Am I spending a majority of the time pondering in the past? Am I focused too much on the future, neglecting the present moment?
Transmutation
Transmutation describes the process of transforming how we feel by letting our emotions flow.
July 4, 2025
2 updates
My Current Morning Routine
For July, I’ve decided to experiment with a more structured morning routine again. So far, it’s been giving me a lot of energy and I feel more in the flow. To track how the routine evolves over time, I want to write about it here from time to time. First things first: I’m trying to stay away from my phone and any kind of notifications or input throughout the entire routine. This method is called Low Dopamine Morning and it has really helped me stay grounded before opening up to the outside world. Here’s a post where I write more about it: Arriving Within Myself. My current morning routine: - Before getting out of bed: - Dream Journal - Gratitude Journal - Life Beyond Suffering - Countdown Meditation - After getting up:
Eat the Frog
Eat the frog is a productivity method that is inspired by a quote attributed to Mark Twain: “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” The goal is to tackle the most unpleasant task first as part of a morning routine, allowing you to start the day with a clear mind and a sense of accomplishment. - Make a list of tasks for the day, ideally the day before. - Identify the ones that you are most dreading, which you would most certainly procrastinate, with the result of them staying in the back of your mind all day, costing you energy. - Tackle these uncomfortable tasks first. This will let you start the day with a sense of accomplishment and free up energy that was previously locked by having this task on your mind.
July 3, 2025
12 updates
Affirmations
Affirmations are short, positive statements that help reframe thoughts and reinforce desired beliefs and intentions. By repeating them regularly, we can affect how our consciousness perceives ourselves and the world around us. Since affirmations are typically used to shift thoughts and perceptions toward positive outcomes, they can be seen as a light work technique. - Choose an affirmation that reflects a belief, intention, or quality you want to strengthen - Keep it short, present-tense, and positive (e.g., “I am a source of calm, strength, and hope.”) - Repeat it regularly It is even possible to create a mantra out of your affirmation and repeat it over and over to focus your mind on it even more. Affirmations are not inly relevant on the individual level. We believe it's very important for the collective to use them to envision a better future. May our affirmations be as bold as our imagination allows. Examples:
Book: Die Freiheit, allein zu sein (The Freedom to Be Alone)
Die Freiheit, allein zu sein: Eine Ermutigung is a German book by Sarah Diehl that explores the concept of solitude from a female perspective. Quotes on this page are freely translated from the German version of the book. "Solitude is not (just) the absence of someone or something else, but the presence of my undisturbed perception." "The single generation we look at so anxiously arises because people break away from old concepts like the nuclear family but still have to find their way into new concepts of communal living. This is made more difficult when they are still measured against old patterns and when laws and moral ideas, e.g., about who can be family and how, hold us back."
Book: Life Beyond Suffering
The book Life Beyond Suffering: A Guided Practice by Kinzer MB is a 60 day workbook with the following elements for each day: - Guided writing practice - Write down things you're grateful for
Gratitude Journaling
Gratitude journaling is a type of journaling that focuses on regularly writing down things we’re thankful for. By noticing and recording even small moments of joy, connection, or beauty, we train our attention toward what’s working rather than what’s lacking. Over time, this light work practice can shift our perception and deepen appreciation for everyday life. On a sheet of paper, write down things you're grateful for, starting sentences like this: - "I love..." - "I love, when..." - "I'm grateful for..." - "I'm grateful, that..." We recommend using explicit examples that help really feel the gratitude. For example, instead of "I love nature" you could write down "I love how the forest smells on a beautiful summer day." - Medium: Gratitude journaling can be used as part of a larger journaling practice (for example in Life Beyond Suffering) or in a dedicated space. We both use a dedicated journal for gratitude.
Intention
Doing something with intention means being more present while doing it. In light work practices, the practice of setting an intention is also often used.
Low Dopamine Morning
A Low Dopamine Morning is a morning routine that aims to minimize exposure to external stimuli and distractions. This practice is based on the insight that the amount of dopamine released immediately after waking up influences how much dopamine our brain will seek throughout the day. An important part of a Low Dopamine Morning is to avoid checking your phone or other notifications right after getting up.
Quality Time
Spending time with intention has the potential to deepen the experience. Often overlooked: Quality time with ourselves, in solitude.
Solitude
It can be a liberating process to learn to enjoy our own company and cultivating solitude as quality time with ourselves. "Solitude is for me a fount of healing which makes my life worth living." - Carl Jung "Solitude is not (just) the absence of someone or something else, but the presence of my undisturbed perception." - Sarah Diehl in Die Freiheit, allein zu sein
Journaling
Journaling can be a helpful practice for recognizing patterns. - Finding the right medium: Try out different methods to see which one presents the least resistance and is most sustainable in the long term. Do I prefer writing by hand in a notebook, typing on my phone or laptop (e.g., using a tool like Obsidian), or does it work better for me to express my thoughts and emotions through drawings or voice memos? - Structured data: It can be helpful to track some things in a more structured way. For example: What was the weather like that day? What did I consume? What rituals did I perform? - Perspective and depth: Your perspective can evolve over time. What might start as "What did I do that day?" (external view) can deepen into "What was on my mind that day?" (internal view). - States of consciousness: Through which different states did I go? How much was I present, how much did I spend in other time states? There are different types of journaling, for example: - Free-form, for example using stream of consciousness writing - Guided, for example using prompts - Focused on a certain topic, for example gratitude journaling
Light Work
Light work means using tools that help us shape our world in a positive way. While shadow work is about recognizing patterns that might be holding us back, light work is about cultivating new, healthy patterns that have previously been beyond our imagination. While a lot of light work techniques are focused on the self, the act of imagining and building a better future for everyone is an important part of collective liberation. On an individual level, we can have an impact by taking responsibility for the energy we bring into the human organism. On a collective level, we can work together and envision a world that's beyond our current imagination, for example through utopianism. - Exercising our imagination of what's possible, for example using visualization techniques and affirmations. - Training ourselves to be in the present and cultivating awe, for example through gratitude journaling and awe walks.
Utopianism
Utopianism is a light work technique with the goal to envision a better future where humans live together in a healthy, sustainable way. It stretches our muscles of imagination and allows us to step outside of our current systems and thought patterns. How does the human organism live together in the future? How do people spend their lives together, how are they organized? How do members of the society see themselves?
Arriving Within Myself
Last week, I wrote about anxiety and how I sometimes find it difficult to write authentically without worrying about what others might think. This is a theme that accompanies me in many areas of life. In relationships, as a host, in public, professionally, creatively... I often constantly monitor how people are doing and what impact my behavior (or lack thereof) might have on them. Over the past two years, I've been exploring the topic of people pleasing and will write more about it in the future. In short: It's hard for me to bear when people around me are not doing well, and I quickly slip into the mode of wanting to manage their emotions to then feel better myself. This is often accompanied by assumptions that I've done something wrong and must fix it immediately to make things right again. This leads me to overextend myself without being asked, which eventually results in escalation when I don't feel supported to the same extent (also without being asked). A downward spiral. To counteract this, I've tried to find ways to arrive back at myself. To move out of other people's heads and back into my own mind and body. Not monitoring others, but discovering what I actually feel, what moves me, and what I need. For a long time, I saw being alone as something negative, something involuntary. Only in recent years have I realized how incredibly helpful it is for me simply to be with myself, away from external influences. In Die Freiheit allein zu sein (German book, The freedom to be alone), Sarah Diehl describes the difference between loneliness and solitude. That solitude can help us experience the world and ourselves as authentically as possible. I highly recommend this book. “Solitude is not (just) the absence of someone or something else, but the presence of my undisturbed perception.” – Sarah Diehl Through solitude, sometimes things that I have unconsciously carried with me for a long time can sort themselves out. Like a ball of yarn with knots that need time and quiet to untangle.