The Garden’s Gift of Mindfulness

My brain runs at warp speed all the time. It's almost always the many tasks I need to do. Instead of focusing on the here and now, I may be focusing on the next five tasks on my lists, and others for next week and next month… I need mindfulness in the worst way! And it's not like I haven't tried. I have read books. I have been a part of a group that was trying mindfulness together, and…nothing. Mindfulness has always been a struggle. 

Then I began to garden. 

The first time I gardened was when I was living in New Jersey, and was part of a community garden. It was my first experience at gardening, and it was a good start for me, to just have my one plot. I had just retired, sooner than I had wanted to, and was feeling anger and grief. I also was unclear about what was next for me. All these thoughts and feelings swirled around me. But not when I was in the garden. Many times, a bluebird kept me company. It was so nice to stop what I was doing and sit back and just savor its beauty and its song. Then, back to weeding and watering and enjoying the silence. I was beginning to learn about mindfulness through this experience. I was very much in the present moment – not looking back at my work life, and not looking ahead at what might be next. 

My husband and I retired here, and I finally had the time and energy to garden more and grow more than vegetables. I expanded to flowers and foliage, and was gardening for hours at a time. 

I really needed to be very mindful, especially when I weeded. When things were beginning to sprout, I needed to have all my attention on the small plant in front of me. Was that something I planted? Or was that a weed? At the end of the day, I realized anew how much I had been in the here and now. No worry or anxiety. Just a deep sense of peace. And I’d find that day had gone slowly, as opposed to the days when I’m rushing around running errands and trying to squeeze in one more thing. 

What a blessing! And, just maybe with some practice, I'll be able to expand this mindfulness to other areas of my life.