Exploring the Body Garden

I have always been drawn to the beauty of and the amazing things that come from gardens. Any time I am traveling I love to go and see gardens. I think we are all drawn to gardens but how many of us really take the time to not just walk in the garden, but work in the garden. How many of us don’t want to deal with the effort it takes to plant a garden, let alone maintain a garden? How many people have a few care-free bushes in front of their house and that’s the extent of their landscaping? How many people just buy flowers and produce at the grocery store because it’s too much effort and money to grow their own? We don’t want to even have to do anything with the soil to create the best growing environment for our garden.

So how is your Body Garden doing? Yes, you have a body garden which requires water, oxygen, nutrients and even beneficial organisms that keep it healthy. You have many gardens that are each contribute to your inner landscape. You have water gardens, food gardens, fountains, sculptures and even incredible living landscapes. It’s like you move into a house that has just the most perfect landscape imaginable. So how do you care for it? If you’re like me, I’ve bought 15 bonsai over the years and all 15 have died. I never took the time not only to educate myself about the care of these bonsai, but I didn’t take the time to maintain them. Lack of water, insects, poor light conditions, temperature changes, letting them get root-bound, no fertilizer …. how could they have survived?

Many of us realize that over time we don’t want to bother doing all the maintenance that is needed to keep our gardens as healthy and beautiful as they can be. So we plant grass, pave over it or let it go to seed. How many people moisturize, exfoliate or even get Botox but don’t realize or care that the skin is connected to the “soil” of our body? Exactly… our Body Garden requires care, maintenance, weeding and replacing dead plants. We can’t simply never water it and expect it to remain healthy. Yet we will only drink a couple of glasses of water each day and assume that’s sufficient, because after all we’re drinking soda, coffee, alcohol and energy drinks. How will our garden be with those as its sources of “water”?

So as I have been talking about a garden, what are you envisioning? Do you think of something beautiful, fragrant or even artistic? I’m sure you aren’t imaging a garden of dead plants, dry soil or weeds, are you?

Our inner landscape is not something we can simply ignore. It also isn’t going to be as healthy as it can or should be with limited care. It’s amazing how quickly the weeds take over when our back is turned! Our Body Garden needs healthy nutrients, plenty of oxygen, regular watering and a good weeding periodically. It needs healthy food, deep relaxed breathing, 1/2 our body weight in ounces of water per day and seasonal or annual detoxification. The plants in our garden need movement in order to strengthen and draw resources from the soil more effectively. In fact, when you plant a tree you have to support it, but still allow the wind to bend it which creates a strong trunk.

We need our gardens. We need our green spaces, the oxygen they create, the food they provide, the beauty and peace they inspire. We need to regularly step away from our work, our responsibilities, other people’s expectations, our To Do list and take a walk in our garden. We need to visit our garden, stop and look around. We need to interact with our garden because without us, the garden will survive, but it will not look the way we wish it to.

So take some time to walk in your Body Garden. Take a look at which plants are healthy and which are not. Clear the weeds, fertilize and plant new plants where needed because leaving dead, deformed or dying plants in our garden draws pests and changes the environment of the soil and the plants. Take some time to talk to the plants because we have long known that talking to plants encourages their growth and health. But what we only recently have come to know is that they communicate with each other through their root systems, through biochemicals they release on the breeze. Why do we not think that this type of communication exists in our own Body Gardens? It does. It is this subtle communication that we need to pay attention to because it is communicating needs, health concerns and energy.

Natural medicine provides the gardening tools and the education to help you care for your Body Garden. You just have to take the time to take a walk and explore your Body Garden. You need to feel the leaves, plant new plants, weed and dig in the soil. We can help you do that. You will get dirty but it’s worth it.