Notes from the Autumn 2003 Newsletter. Since this was written, Andrea has started giving Garden Consultations.

Our Gardens as Mirrors

For a long time I have wondered whether our gardens reveal our body-souls. Obviously this premise doesn’t apply if we are renting property or if a landscaper has designed our space, but in my own garden, I’ve been increasingly aware of the correlation between my energetic field and the garden.

Recently I explored this idea with an avid gardener, a friend of my parents on Vancouver Island. I offered to intuitively ‘read’ her garden the way a fortune teller reads palms. Open-minded and curious, she agreed. I then asked her not to tell me anything more about herself because I wanted to see if her garden actually did represent her. After three delightful hours of touring her beautiful grounds, we both agreed that my premise was accurate. From the choices she made concerning design, plants, and other elements, her garden mirrored her past, her present life, and her soul purpose in astonishingly accurate ways.

When I looked at my own garden-mirror this spring, I realized with chagrin that I that I clearly had too much going on! Seven summers old, the garden was not only lush – it was crowded and chaotic! Taking this to heart, I pruned it back by giving away carloads of perennials to friends. Eventually, the new spaciousness made me yearn to simplify other areas of my life.

Listening to your garden:

This simple exercise is a way to renew your appreciation and connection with Nature through your garden this fall. Take a slow walk through your yard, observing it closely. Appreciate all the ways it has gifted and supported you this year. As you do this, sense what you might want from the garden next year. More vegetables, a seat in the sun, more color in the spring, a new path or flower bed? Then, after you have formed your desires, find a quiet place to sit and listen to what the garden itself might want to be. Tune in to the spirit of the garden and ask: What is Nature’s plan for this garden? Because your soul is intimately linked with Nature, this question will help to expand your imaginative possibilities. With your best interests in view, what Nature seeks to offer through your garden could be fundamental to your life. Do not dismiss anything you see, hear, or feel for intuitive communication is multi-dimensional. Nature is always revealing herself through your open heart!

Communing within your sacred landscape:

Most of us have a landscape that deeply nourishes us. (The islands of Georgian Bay are where I most deeply reconnect with Nature.) Though summer is the easiest season to commune outdoors, you can make a mini-pilgrimage to commune with Nature in any season. Connecting to the earth and relating to Nature is usually a slowing down experience, so give yourself a generous amount of time. Once you have arrived, take time to let the busy brain-chatter fade away, then find a quiet place and open to connect with the energy of the land. Let all your senses take in the beauty of the setting. Drink in the sounds, smells, textures, and patterns of the place. When you are full of these sensations, then open even more fully.

Though heightened sensory experience helps to balance our energy, it can also serve as a prelude to a dialogue with Nature. This deeper communion occurs through our sixth and seventh senses – our intuition and heart-sense. When I listen this way, every cell in my body feels alive and receptive. (If I have been very busy and am tired, I may need several days to rest and prepare.) When I feel ready, my body humming and my heart fully open to the spirit of the land, I then ask for a message. I may want general guidance about the focus of the upcoming year or insight on specific areas of my life. Always recording what I perceive, I then refer to my notes throughout the months. My pilgrimages into Nature have always provided vital heart-wisdom that has been pivotal on my life-journey.

A final thought about our relationship to Nature, and perhaps the most challenging: “Your body is your garden, and your will is the gardener.” William Shakespeare, quoted on a bulletin board at a nearby gym.