Gardens are Healing

Have you ever noticed how you feel when you are in a garden?

You start to relax,
you breathe more deeply,
you look,
really look at the beauty that surrounds you.

You sigh.
The cares of the world seem to evaporate.

Gardens are healing.
The first garden was created by the Almighty Creator,
and we humans have been
creating and planting our own gardens ever since.
After all, we are made in the Creator's image.

Healing is something we all need each and every day.
Healing of our spirits, minds, bodies and souls.

Whether your garden is just one plant or a few
growing in a window,
Several on a balcony, or stoop, or patio
Or a plot of land big or small,
There is healing.

If you have not planted a garden yet,
Think about it.
Think about colors, scents, textures,
herbs, fruits and vegetables.
What would you like in your own healing garden.

Plant things to attract birds and butterflies.
Place a bench or two
so that you have a place to rest and enjoy.
Have a water feature,
whether a bird bath, fountain, stream or waterfall.

If your garden is indoors,
Place a comfortable chair nearby,
Buy a small desktop fountain.
Hang some artwork of the beautiful world outside.
Listen to some nature with music CD's.

It is your garden.
Create it with love.
Love will surround you,
Love is healing.

FlowerLady

A Well Watered Garden

The wonderful little book, A Well Watered Garden ~ by Harriet Crosby, was given to me by a dear friend and I thank her for it. It has been a blessing in my life. I believe that God is with me at all times, but I feel Him more when I'm in my gardens or out anywhere in His great creation.


From this book and from reading online I have read that gardens can be a place of healing. Tending our gardens is a way to seek healing from God, to transform pain into a thing of beauty and hope. Caring for a living garden in the midst of pain and sorrow brings a slow, deep, and lasting healing. Our gardens are not another project to be finished on time.


Our gardens are a special place where we 'slow down', reflect on our life and listen as God speaks to us.


Our gardens are a place of refreshment and rejuvenation. There are many ways to make our gardens a place to unwind, relax, and take in the beauty that surrounds us and the many blessings that come our way, big or small.


Wind chimes ~ Some tones have a healing effect; calming our minds, relieving stress, awakening our spirits, and improving our concentration level. They are symbolic of harmony and peace, serenity and tranquility.


A place to sit and a table are nice in our gardens. We can rest from our labors and take refreshment from a cool or hot beverage whatever the time of year may be.


A water feature of some sort in our gardens brings a feeling of peace and the sound covers unwelcome noises that may be in our space. Water has relaxing properties.


*** Science has yet to discover exactly how moving water decreases life's craziness, but the growing numbers of believers, like Brown, are beginning to see the light and the peace that these features can offer. The secret might have more to do with intuition and less with real science. Water can connect us to our humanity and allows us to let go of life's annoyances, if only for a moment. "There's something very relaxing about water. Even if you have a still pond without movement, there is just that feeling of serenity," says Linda Wiggen Kraft, owner of Gardens for the Soul in St. Louis. "Water is often an element that is associated with emotions. I think it does help us get in touch with our emotions, especially those which comfort us." ***


For more on this see the link below. Healing Gardens


Bird baths and feeders add delight to our gardens as the joyous sound of birds and seeing their antics add to the therapeutic qualities of our garden spaces.


Planting flowers and herbs for butterflies adds another dimension to our gardens. These wonderful 'flying flowers' haven't a care in the world.


I want to rest in the loving care of my Creator. I want to stop, listen, see, feel and take in the scents of this life that is all around. I want to feel His loving presence surrounding me.

***

The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion;

slow to anger, and of great mercy.

The LORD is good to all:

and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Sincerely ~ FlowerLady