How slow gardening and flower arranging supports mental health and balance
Active hands, fresh air, fresh botanicals equals a good time
There is a part of me that bristles at the trendy buzz words that get thrown around the current media. As though self-care, mental health, or conscious eating are all together new and radical concepts that a supplement or juicing can solve.
In my opinion, they are inherently acts in which we lean into compassion and love. It’s as much of a process as being human. They already belong to us. They are concepts known in our bones to be true. However, procrastination or avoidance, coupled with listening to outside voices in contrast to our own, can lead to incongruencies, unsupportive habits, and short term experiments.
It’s not that I do not believe self-care, mental health, or conscious eating are believe self-care, mental health, or conscious eating are super important. They are. How I’ve found peace with myself may be different than what works for you. What it means to be comfortably seated in the self, aligned, is being truly at ease and in the frequency of love. How you and I establish that relationship may be different.
It’s the ability to connect with the force of life. And sometimes that is connecting with people, music, art, or dance. Other times it’s connecting with the dynamic elements of nature.
I have found that taking care of a garden, growing and cutting flowers and vegetables to be incredibly therapeutic. Just being in the proximity of plants has had a ripple effect. First it’s the excitement of learning and watching the magic of things grow. Then comes the power in experiencing the hiccups, the mistakes, and the triumphs. You become a witness to death, life and regeneration in its honest uncensored glory. Finally comes the inexpressible love and appreciation. It becomes indistinguishable who is taking care of who – the care that you bring to the plants or the joy they bring to you.
The impact left its stain and that stain revealed something I’m not willing to lose: the way I relate to myself, the natural world and all it provides. I’ve softened. Working with plants and flowers helped me learn the value of taking care of what is precious.
I embrace the relationship and gladly participate. I’m shown what it means to trust. Without which I’d not be able to care for my body or mind.
In the times that I’m unable to grow flowers myself, I buy them from the market. Thankful that somewhere else in the world, flowers are being grown, cared for, and harvested by hard-working folk. That there is still soil being cultivated and planted rather than developed.
I shared a few ways you can enjoy flowers in this post, Three unexpected ways to enjoy flowers. But I’d like to share a couple more that I’ve found to have a real and lasting therapeutic effect.
In close proximity.
Flowers are mood enhancers. I don’t know about you, but they make me happy. If you’re feeling eh, blah, a bit of the blues, treat yourself. Flowers truly have a way of shifting the mood by way of transforming the space with their frequency. By placing them in a high traffic area, like the dining room table, your home office, studio, or kitchen you facilitate a moment to pause and notice. Guaranteed they’ll blur the lines between the inside and outside and provide a freshness that comes with the warming spring winds.
Embrace simple being. It’s enough.
Consider including pollinating insects, native bees, honey bees, bats, and moths into your gratitude practice. If you don’t already have gratitude practice, this is a good place to start. These little creatures are simply being themselves moving from flower to flower, wrestling with petals, pollen, stamen, and nectar. Without these animals we would not enjoy the beauty, let alone the diversity of flowers in nature. We along with countless lifeforms would cease to exist. It’s a great example of interdependent naturalism. They, in simply being, contribute to making the planet healthy and vibrant. And you, when seated in yourself, simply being are too.
If your dreaming of starting a garden, let’s talk – Garden Consultation
Or create and play on your own time – Intuitive Arrangements is a self-paced digital series for flower lovers covering basic mechanics and botanical design. Expand your senses, hone your style, and connect to the elements behind the blossoms. Immediate access upon purchase.