As gardening season beckons, many gardeners focus on the work of producing healthy food for their families. For others, the garden represents fresh air, a little exercise, or a pleasant pastime. But is it possible that gardening can serve a higher purpose…can the act of gardening heal a troubled mind, lessen feelings of depression, or promote spiritual growth?
See what myself and others think below, via Sedona Spotlight Mind Spirit Archives
Award-winning Environmental Designer Pablo Solomon has spent decades studying Zen art, Japanese flower arranging, and Zen gardens, and holds advanced degrees in counseling and social psychology. He tells Natural Choice Directory that gardening can, indeed, heal troubled minds.
“Physical healing follows spiritual healing, for as we think/believe, we become,” says Judy Winkler, a gardener and a minister who uses gardening as a metaphor for teaching spiritual growth.
Psychologist Nancy Irwin believes that “Gardening can be very grounding (pun intended) because anything dealing with the earth or nature connects us to our source. The earth is stable (generally), and will not argue with you, or reject you. You are safe. You are caring for something, and watching it grow. This is a selfless thing to do.”
Life Coach and Author Mikaya Heart values nature as a healing force that cannot be underestimated. “When we are focused on being in Nature, on feeling the soil with our hands, intent on the wellbeing of the plants we are working and playing with, then we are in touch with the life force of the universe, which allows us just to BE who we are, loving and appreciating us for being who we are. Only too often, when we are with other humans, they want us to be different or they are trying to be different from who they are, and this sets up a dissonance.
To read this article in full: https://www.sedonaspotlight.com/post/gardening-for-body-mind-and-spirit