Gardening as a Mindfulness and Stress Reduction Practice

This summer my garden is overflowing with produce! Lately when I go out to the garden beds my mind goes into alarm mode. I begin focusing on questions like “How am I going to use all of these cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, etc.?” or “When will I make the time to chop, cook, bake, can/store all the bounty?”  I think about storage containers and review/rehash how many I have. I start to list what people I know who would take cucumbers and zucchini and how many I can give away. Luckily, this usually happens just after I’ve completed my morning meditation and yoga practice, so my mind becomes aware of the shift into alarm mode and I’m able to take some deep breaths or stop and attend to the sounds of nature all around me, ground to the present moment and use my whole brain to plan and problem solve. This month, I’ll share some options for engaging in gardening as a mindfulness activity and discuss the benefits of mindful gardening. As you’ll see, mindfulness can be practiced in numerous ways!

During Week 8 of the MBSR Course I teach, we brainstorm, discuss and share various ways participants will continue to use mindfulness and awareness practices in their lives. We distinguish between meditation practice and practicing mindful awareness in our everyday lives. Mindfulness Meditation (as taught in MBSR) is a practice that supports mindful living. It involves setting aside specific time to choose an intentional focus, practicing active awareness of the mind as it wanders and repeatedly refocusing one’s attention on the present moment. Everyday mindfulness is more of a way of living, a choice if you will, to be present as best you can to whatever arises in each present moment. We can practice mindful awareness when eating, walking, and in conversation with others. There are numerous ways to cultivate mindfulness. Gardening is a great way to cultivate present moment awareness, regulate stress hormones and increase the power of observation. There is research showing ways that mindful gardening contributes to our longevity and overall health and wellbeing.

As you consider engaging in mindful gardening, I encourage you to begin with what is possible and reasonable for you. The research showed that the benefits of gardening can manifest from tending to one plant, tree, shrub or many. Once you set your own intention on what plant/s you are tending to, use the mindfulness practice of engaging all of your senses. You might begin by slowing down and grounding to the present with some focused breathing or bringing some awareness to your hands and feet as you prepare to engage with the plant or plants. Use the following as a template for creating your own approach to mindful gardening:

1. Attend to sound. Listen to the sounds of nature—e.g. birds, wind, gardening tools while pruning, weeding, and harvesting.

2. Attend to sight. Observe colors, textures, variety and size, whether something is wilting or blossoming.

3. Attend to smell. Notice the varying smells of dirt, plants, flowers, produce, air, etc.

4. Attend to taste. As you are tending to the dirt and plants, notice the taste of the air. Knowing for yourself, what is reasonable, taste the leaves and produce—noting tones of pleasant, unpleasant, neutral, sweet, sour, bitter, etc.

5. Attend to touch. Feel the soil, the plants and produce. Feel your breath as you breathe in and out. Feel your hands, feet and perhaps knees as you tend to the garden.

Caring for plants (flowers, vegetables, houseplants, etc.) can be very educational. As I’ve practiced mindful gardening this summer, I’ve noticed some patterns of thinking and ways of being that merit contemplation. I’ve noticed that I can get very focused on planting vegetation that produces. Once production begins in the garden, I can get very focused on harvesting, canning, freezing and creating meals to use the bounty. I have benefitted from contemplating how these patterns show up in other areas of my life. I have learned that this kind of work and productivity can be very useful and beneficial sometimes in my life AND that there is also benefit to slowing down, not focusing on productivity and enjoying the beauty and benefits of the process of gardening. I’ve learned that not every plant has to be producing food and that there is joy in having other types of plants and flowers. I think my cortisol fluctuation is thanking me.

Check out my website for upcoming fall programs:

• Mindfulness at Emmanuel: Sept 7^th and Sept 23^rd.

• Artful Journeys to Wellbeing, with Karen and various artists at the Adams County Arts Council, Tuesdays, Sept 30-Nov 18, 5:30-7:00pm, ET.

• Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Course with Karen, online through Mindful Leader:, Oct 6-Dec 8, 6:00-8:30pm, ET.

• Mindfulness, Grief & Loss: In Support of Healing with Karen, online through East Coast Mindfulness, Wednesday, Oct 29^th , Nov 5^th and 12^th , 7-8:30pm, ET.

I hope that you are able to slow down and observe your own mindset around plants and gardening and find ways to engage in a mindful gardening practice that contributes to stress regulation and accessing the joys of playing in the dirt! Please leave a comment and/or suggestion about mindful gardening and how it has served you.

Best wishes as you play with planting, Karen