We’ve talked a lot about food and mindfulness in this blog. And how it’s so important to healing. I wanted to share an anecdote about how gardens have played an important role in how I try to practice good health in my own life.
Gardening and Health
I started growing vegetables in the backyard with my father. When faced with a salad, he would sometimes complain: “this is rabbit food!” But he never complained when he ate the vegetables that we grew ourselves. Those were different.
And he was right – the vegetables were rabbit food. We had rabbits that lived under the porch of our shed who shared our harvest.
In turn, I gardened with my children. The joy of planting, weeding and harvesting vegetables was shared with them as they grew up. They would pick their cherry tomatoes, carrots and peas while playing in the backyard. I had frames for each different section of my garden. I imagined each section belonging to each of my children – with three kids, I left the fourth section for flowers.
Yes, I loved it. I remember also wanting egg-laying chickens but at the time they were not allowed in the city where I lived.
Well-grown food is so important to good health. I admire farmers – they have the joy of growing good food to nurture their families. The bottom line is, I would have been happy being a farmer but I had a different calling in life.
Healthy Food = Healthy Body
Gardening helped me grow in my practice as a doctor. Growing my own food helped me understand the importance of feeding ourselves well. The plants needed healthy ingredients to grow well – otherwise, the leaves would be droopy, sallow, and wilt. They needed lots of water. They needed to be cared for. We as humans need the same. Food is such an intricate part of healing and we need to eat well .
Gardening as Meditation
I could also meditate in the garden. It helped me be mindful and to focus on the present. I could free myself from the train of thoughts that would run through my head – the stresses, the lists of things to do and thoughts about the future. Gardening was my time for myself, my stress reliever.
