Healing Lifestyles & Spas

Healing Gardens

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By on Healing Blog

The simple act of growing and caring for plants can have a profound  effect on our own well-being.

By Debra Bokur

My sister Robin is renowned throughout our family for her ability to create thriving gardens out of the driest, most hopeless patches of soil. Regardless of the ground’s history or disposition, a profusion of stunning colors and textures miraculously emerges wherever she decides to plant her garden. I used to tease her about harboring secret potions and fertilizers, until I realized exactly what her most powerful tool is: Love. When she plants, she does so with hope and intention; when she weeds and waters, she infuses her garden with a boundless love. And it responds.

Turns out, many experts believe this reciprocal relationship is the key to why so many of us feel at peace within a garden setting. They go on to suggest that the very act of gardening, of nurturing and caring for other life, creates an exchange of healing energy and a connection that benefits the gardener on a deep, core level.

Judith Handelsman-Smith, MA, author of Growing Myself: A Spiritual Journey Through Gardening (Plume, 1997) says she experienced a profound epiphany years ago while a student at the University of Wisconsin. As part of her required curriculum, she took a botany class. “I didn’t know anything about plants,” she admits. “I was asked to draw the lifecycle of a plant, and for the first time, I saw the cycle from seed, to plant, to flower, to seed dropping. At the time, the agricultural school was giving away plants, and I brought some home. As I began to care for them, I was able to lose the small self, and become connected to the larger world around me. It was me, totally connecting with my position in nature. We are not separate and the more of yourself you pour into the process of gardening, of caring for plant life, the more you get back.”

For some reason our culture has no difficulty recognizing and honoring the relationship that develops between people and their animal companions, yet still fails to acknowledge that plants are sentient beings as well, possessing an inherent intelligence of their own.

“It’s important to make a connection with plants in the same way you do with a pet or another person,” says Handelsman-Smith, “knowing and fully understanding that each is a living being with a consciousness that responds to our consciousness. It’s interesting to me how our perception of plant life has changed. There was a time when trees were worshiped and were never cut down. At the Oracle of Delphi, priests held ceremonies where they would enter into a sacred grove of oaks and ask the trees their deepest and most spiritual questions and receive answers.”

Having a spiritual approach to gardening involves being mindful, but it isn’t complicated. Simply make time to observe and be sensitive to the plants in your care. When you water them, let them hear your voice. Pay attention to how they react to different amounts of moisture in their soil. Is the soil adequately nutritious, or does it need to be supplemented? How are your plants responding to the sunlight they receive? Do they have the necessary room to spread their roots? Do some prefer a more confined space than others? Are their leaves and stems supple or brittle? Are they in a soothing space, or one that exposes them to cold drafts, excessive heat, or disturbing levels of noise?

San Francisco-based environmental architect and landscape artist Topher Delaney has become well known for creating garden designs characterized by harmonic elements. She approaches the act of gardening with a profound respect for the lives of the plants in her care. And, while she recognizes that having space for an outdoor garden is a luxury not enjoyed by everyone, Delaney believes that growing plants indoors, provided it’s with a spirit of love, offers the same rewards. She says that experiential proof of the value in gardening lies in the sensation of calmness and well-being that is often the result of working with and being surrounded by plant life.

“The benefits of growing plants indoors are legion,” she says. “I regard the tending of plants as a daily practice of mindfulness, one which offers the tender the extraordinary chance to observe the miracle of growth, the fruition and diversity within the context of impermanence, much like our lives. I have many orchids, which unfurl into the most extraordinary shapes and colors each year. I am stunned by the limey-green buds as they expand into delicate sheaves of violet paper and thin sepals. I am always reminded of my opportunity to observe the cycles of growth, which the complex diversity of nature offers.”

It’s been said that nothing in this world can grow without love, and it makes perfect sense that helping another life flourish may enrich our own existence and increase our capacity for caring. Whether we choose to cultivate an apple tree or nurture a small pot of herbs, the important thing is to establish a relationship with our garden, and to undertake its care with reverence and respect. By approaching this endeavor as a spiritual act, we can deepen our connection with the natural world, and with all the life that surrounds us.

Medicinal Herbs

Growing herbs adds a new component to the relationship between gardener and plant. Harvesting the herbs and adding them to our food brings about an exchange of energy on another level. The plants we nurture reward us by producing therapeutic foods; when we harvest them with gratitude and ingest them with intention, plant and gardener become one. If you don’t have a meadow of your own, take heart: these healing plants can easily be grown in small spaces or in windowsill pots.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) Traditionally recognized as a nerve tonic, the leaves of this fragrant and slightly sweet herb can be infused to make a delicate, relaxing tea. Topically, the oil from the crushed leaves and stems can relieve cold sores and insect stings. The oil should never be ingested, except under the supervision of a physician.

Sage (Salvia officinalis) A wonderfully fragrant cooking herb, fresh sage leaves can also be rubbed on insect stings to relieve discomfort. Considered sacred in some cultures, sage has also been shown to be a mild nerve tonic with antioxidant properties. It should not be ingested during pregnancy.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Too often dismissed as weeds, dandelions possess a wide range of healing properties. Their value as a therapeutic plant was documented in written texts dating back to the 11th century in Arabia, and the 13th century in Wales. They have significant levels of vitamins A, B, C, and D, and are a powerful diuretic. Young, tender leaves can be harvested in the spring and added to salads.

Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) Well known for its ability to relive digestive discomfort when sipped as a tea infusion, peppermint’s volatile oils also help relieve headaches when applied to the temples. The essential oil should never be ingested, and peppermint should not be given to children under 5 years of age.

Spa Gardens

Chefs have their dish-driven gardens, and now the freshest trend at resorts is the spa garden. More than a tranquil place where fragrant herbs and peace-provoking water fountains encourage Zen to trickle into your psyche, the spa garden grows healing ingredients that are clipped by therapists and infused into treatments. Deborah Evans, a licensed massage therapist, aromatherapist, and general manager at Red Mountain Spa in Ivins, Utah, incorporates sage, mint, and rosemary into the spa’s salt glow treatments. Evans believes that “the incorporation of organic herbs grown on [the]property, adds another dimension to the spa experience, bringing the guest closer to the natural elements used in the spa and to an outdoor experience brought indoors.” Gifts of our Garden, a signature body treatment at The Lake House Spa at Lake Austin Spa Resort in Austin, Texas, draws upon therapeutic herbs cultivated in the on-site Healing Gardens, allowing guests to select herbs according to specific needs, including Roman chamomile to calm, clary sage to relax and ease depression, eucalyptus to relieve colds and congestions, and scented geranium to reduce water retention. Therapists at Bacara Resort and Spa in Santa Barbara, California, trim lush lavender bushes to add a natural touch to treatments. And at Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley, California, fresh herbs and flowers that grow abundantly in the surrounding fertile gardens and hillsides are harvested and their essential oils are extracted to help restore cellular balance and nourish the physical and emotional well-being of their guests.

Laurel House July/August 2006

 

Healing Lifestyles & Spas Team
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