A Spiritual Practice
Gardening is a spiritual practice that helps the women we serve cultivate mindfulness – a lifelong tool they can use as they sustain a life of recovery from drugs and alcohol. Gardening helps us connect to the natural world and Mother Earth, which help our patients develop our relationship with our Higher Power. This can be emphasized in both group work as well as personal journaling exercises. As our women experience the way the soil feels in their hands, the sun on their face, and other pleasing stimuli, their senses are full. They are experiencing the world, rather than feeling numb from addiction. Self-esteem builds as the women we serve take care of our gardens, giving back to the program that is guiding them in transforming their lives. They feel pride and ownership when a seed they have planted blooms for the first time. Although we all know vegetables and herbs come from the Earth, we are so used to buying them at a grocery store. Our patients have the opportunity to dig a garden out, plant seeds, weed it every week, and take care of something tangible. One of our patients told us the first time they picked a string bean from the trellis and ate it, she “felt like a new Mom”. These are activities with low physical impact but high mental, emotional, and spiritual returns.
We’re pleased to share a testimonial from our alumna, Julie S., on the benefits of gardening in new recovery.
Day 1... Your day becomes a busy schedule filled with hours together, listening, learning, laughing, &, sometimes, crying. Walking into rehab can be quite the experience, & for me, it was sobering...
Although I was, & continue to be, a gardener when I entered NDFW, I hadn’t really done it sober in quite some time. Gardening in recovery is something I highly recommend...
As I said, days are busy in rehab. Surrendering, beating drums, meetings, lessons, clearing your head, sharing from your core &, yes, tending the gardens. As a group activity it can be fun & most weeks I found it very entertaining. Younger gals who apparently had yet to touch a plant, the kitchen gardener who cut fresh herbs for Saturday dinner & a couple chicks like me who really enjoyed it. I was fortunate in that my daughter & I lived in Faith House. In the mornings on our walk to school, we, not only got to stop & smell the roses, but we discovered our own little plot of land we decided to call the North Forty. We noticed that the North Forty had been farmed by previous inhabitants, & this gave us hope that we might be able to get seeds & soil to bring it back to life.
Well, not only did we get some seeds & soil, but we ended up growing our own little food garden & aromatic retreat. Herbs, tomatoes, onions, kale, butterflies & composting earthworms – we had a little bit of everything & not enough of anything. But what we did have was a great way to get away, to find our way back home & to share & care with others. Girls who thought kale for their smoothies came in a package, saw that it grew on stalks & learned the joys of eating their own harvest. We had quiet times playing in the dirt, loud times spraying water on our “short” people, & savory moments when we enjoyed our “fresh catch”.
As I said, I highly recommend gardening in recovery... The North Forty provided many things to many people... The North Forty for me... I will borrow some excellent words - joyous, happy, & free...
Oh, & there’s always that, it is good to get dirty…
