Garden Yoga: Healing the Body and Soul
Garden Yoga: Healing the Body and Soul
By Megan McCarver
The many great gardens of the world, of literature and poetry,
of painting and music, of religion and architecture,
all make the point as clear as possible:
The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden.
If you don't want paradise, you are not human;
and if you are not human, you don't have a soul.
- Thomas Moore
This article is dedicated to a dear friend and student, K.C.F. 1937 – 2022, a fierce warrior, talented gardener, and one who calls herself a “pansy”.
While celebrating her 70th birthday during the summer of 2009, she also celebrated the completion and success of five and a half months of aggressive Chemotherapy.
One of my delightful weekly classes was driving to her home by the lake —where all things grow, for a private yoga lesson. In K.C.F.’s beautiful lake-view courtyard, original nature is captured. It is filled with vine-covered trellises, mixed shrub planting, and colorful floral combinations. This garden sanctuary became life’s metaphor during her arduous journey through extensive Chemotherapy treatments.
K.C.F.’s journey was an amazing inspiration, testifying to survival and witnessing nature at its best. Her enchanted garden was a healing force for her body and soul.
During the five and a half months of Chemotherapy battling cancer, her garden never lacked joyful color and a life force full of gratitude and enthusiasm. She also never missed a week of her practice. On days she had strength; she would prune and parade with delight. On days she felt depleted and depressed, she would sit with a view of her garden and listen to the buzzing hummingbirds or rest to the morning dove’s lullaby.
When asked to write about yoga and gardening, my eyes swelled with big tears of joy. I witnessed another great yoga discipline: the view of her garden, the persistence, and the practice of letting go to become well while treasuring the present moment every day.
An Asana for Gardeners
Yoga allows the students to reeducate themselves with mindful action during daily doings. A regular yoga practice tailored to the student’s needs can create a lifelong, sense of well-being, like a well-nourished garden!
Mountain Posture—Tadasana in your garden and be receptive to the original nature of everything.
Bring your mind and body to attention facing east in your garden. Stand up straight with the inner edges of your feet together and parallel. Distribute your weight evenly on your right and left foot. Distribute your weight evenly between the ball and the heel of both feet. Spread the bones of your feet as you root towards the earth.
Draw energy up your legs by firming your knees towards your hips and stretching your calves towards your heels. Press the heads of the thigh bones back (where the thighs hook up in your hip sockets) and simultaneously stretch the crest of your buttocks down toward your back legs. In the same way, a plant draws water and nourishment up from the soil, firm up your legs, and stretch up towards the light.
Then lift the four sides of your torso away from your pelvis girdle. Lift your lower belly as your sacrum stretches down. Lift your frontal sternum as your shoulder blades cascade down your back and away from your spine. Broaden across your collar bones, melting your trapezius muscles down as you lengthen the four sides of your neck. Your ears are over your shoulders and your chin is level to the earth. Lift through the crown of your head like a flower seeking light.
Being still, awake, and resting your attention on your breath, feel awareness throughout your entire body. Notice and celebrate how every cell in your body relates to your breath. Let the smooth rhythm of your breath calm your mind to show you inner peace and harmony. Draw your gaze inwards, relax deep in the hollow of the eye socket, relax the corners of your mouth, the hollow of your mouth, and your tongue in the lower palate of your mouth. Remain still, centered, and awake. Visualize the light radiating throughout your entire body and with each exhale, let that light surround the universe in peace.
