Category Archives: Growing mindful

ways to achieve mindfulness, stress reduction and psychological harmony in the garden and in life

The way to be can be to do.

Posted on April 6, 2020 by The Holistic Gardener

Lao Tzu, the Chinese Taoist philosopher (circa the 5th Century BC) is believed to have decreed that “The way to do is to be” – well the way to be can also be to do. I am a fan of … Continue reading →

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Mindful Gardening can cultivate calm and resilience in any crisis.

Posted on April 4, 2020 by The Holistic Gardener

Amidst the current corona virus crisis, we are being urged to limit our circle and maintain social distance and that includes in the great outdoors. Recent weeks have seen the easily bored as well as the genuinely cabin-fevered flocking to … Continue reading →

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sowing some positive intent

Posted on March 31, 2020 by The Holistic Gardener

In times of doubt and fear, the best antidote is a positive mindset. We gardeners know all about meeting uncertainty and getting on with it anyway – every plant planted, every seed sown is a risk, one we nurture out … Continue reading →

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the garden is therapy

Posted on March 30, 2020 by The Holistic Gardener

You may think of gardening as your therapy or just as your pleasant pastime – but even passing time in pleasantness is restorative of mental health and prompting of a physical sense of wellbeing. The word therapy comes from the … Continue reading →

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Weeding for a fuller life

Posted on March 23, 2020 by The Holistic Gardener

The modern world seems to fuel itself on anxiety and hypervigilance, creating a tension loop and stressing the joy out of life. Many people crave something more, something better, a chance at peace and joy. But we do need to … Continue reading →

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The body scan for mindfulness and peace of mind

Posted on March 16, 2020 by The Holistic Gardener

A popular mindful exercise is the body scan – a practice where you check in with your body – bring your attention to it in a systematic way. It is a way of slowing the pace before a meditation, it … Continue reading →

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Cultivating neuroplasticity.

Posted on August 29, 2019 by The Holistic Gardener

Leisure swimmers have different muscles to committed cyclists, gardening works muscles that typing wont. Just as muscles may be built by occupation, pastime or determination so too our brains are built upon by how they get worked – by experience, … Continue reading →

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To plant mindfully

Posted on August 21, 2019 by The Holistic Gardener

In the segment on sowing a seed mindfully I mentioned diligence, diligence is acting with integrity; it is bringing your dutiful and alert self into the process. We gardeners can become automatic on regular gardening tasks and not really be … Continue reading →

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sowing the seeds of mindfulness

Posted on August 20, 2019 by The Holistic Gardener

Sowing seed is not an act of will, it is participation in the divine force of creation, it is participation with the force of life; to renew itself. In sowing seed you are present at the conception of a new … Continue reading →

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how to really deal with slugs and snail.

Posted on July 22, 2019 by The Holistic Gardener

The mindful approach. To be a mindful gardener we may not like what the slugs and snails do but we need not hate or rage. In Theravada Buddhism it is taught that the antidote to anger is compassion and loving … Continue reading →

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