[Essay #4: A Sample Healing Garden]

In the summer issue of The New Settler Interview, editor Beth Bosk describes the "biophilia theory" -- brainchild of Edward Wilson, meaning that humans have a "habitat seeking instinct."

Bosk, long-time defender of a healthy planet (and local forests specifically), eloquently writes that our spontaneous human attraction to other living entities within the natural world is beneficial to health. As she explains:

It's why gall bladder surgery patients sent to a recovery room facing a grove of trees were able to go home sooner than those who went to rooms with a view of a brick wall. Why Michigan prison inmates in cells facing a concrete courtyard had 24% more sick-calls than those whose cells allowed them to gaze out on farm land.... 1

Bosk points out that "our innards -- our organs, our immune doohickies, our still primeval neurophysiology -- 'still feel an innate preference for the the natural environment that cradled us.'"

Precisely so. And synchronicity abounds. This is just the sort of stuff I'd been hoping to hear about from friends, site visitors and, well, anyone else.

The very day that my copy of the The New Settler Interview arrived, I received a contribution about healing gardens from a Michigan health-care professional. The nurse described Sparrow Hospital's aesthetic space that is apparently used by both patients and staff and is open to the public. The garden includes seating areas, graceful walkways and a labyrinth. The garden's philosophy views healing as flowing from a sense of natural and wholesome connections -- with the earth, the air, the sky, scents and singing birds -- in other words, our living, breathing connection with all of nature is healing.

Our contributor adds,

"The hospital staff comes out at lunch, and on their breaks, to the garden where they enjoy the space. Everyday, someone is out walking in the labyrinth. I observe patients enjoying the outdoors -- sometimes pushed along the outside path in their wheelchairs by family members or friends who accompany them on their doctor's appointment. The garden is frequently used by the public -- either in conjunction with visits to the professional building, or simply on the weekend to walk through the labyrinth."

The Sparrow Hospital garden brochure describes the labyrinth (which can be traced back to the 12th Century) as a simple, walking path. Its aim is to 'quiet the mind,' stimulate reflection, contemplation and clarity and is a metaphor for our spiritual or interior journey 'and our connection to the Divine.' According to the brochure, a labyrinth walk consists of three phases:

1. The Entering -- wherein one opens up, releases, sheds the weights and concerns of the moment and walks into the center, stopping and meditating along the way at any point.

2. The Centering -- Upon reaching the core of the maze, intuitively one 'receives' whatever is apprehended, remaining as long as 'is right for you,' while standing, kneeling or sitting.

3. The Exit -- When one walks out the same path as entered, 'integrating, communing, connecting and empowered.'

An added appreciative note: The photo above of a stand of trees was shot by a friend and neighbor who kindly gave us permission to use the image on our site. His home sits along the California coast, amidst a grove of primitive redwoods trees. In order to capture this image, he first had to lay down on the ground and shoot upwards.

For more information on the Sparrow Healing Garden or labyrinth, please contact directly The Center for Health, Humanities & Well Being in Lansing, Michigan.

1. Beth Bosk, "Editor's Afterword Beforehand," The New Settler Interview, POB 702, Mendocino, California, 95460; v. 127, mid-May/June, p. 3.