Mindfulness Garden Games
by Joann Calabrese
author of Growing Mindful

Embracing What Is

      Embracing What Is – that’s the mindfulness focus for the week. Dreary Days in Denver A run of cold dreary days has marked the beginning of fall in Denver. With the passing of the equinox last week, came clouds, grey, and rain. This is not the usual weather for Denver, where even in … Read more

Praying Mantis Energy – Mindfulness Focus Words

Praying Mantis as Garden Helper Praying mantises are elusive insects and quite carnivorous. They are a boon in a garden that is overrun with insect pests. But they are indiscriminate and will eat anything that crosses their paths, including other beneficial insects and their mates.  I’ve been in Denver nine years and have never seen … Read more

Half Empty-Half Full Conundrum – Mindfulness Focus Words

    Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? My usual “pumpkinpalooza”, as my grand-daughter Amanda calls it, did not materialize this summer.  My time spent in Pennsylvania and my distracted-ness upon returning certainly impacted the pumpkins.  The okra were also a bust this year.  My white currants were prolific, but life got in … Read more

Dependability – Mindfulness Focus Words

      Cosmos flowers, blooming everywhere in my yard, are the inspiration for this week’s mindfulness focus – dependability. Cosmos are annual flowers that blooms in mid to late summer.  They grow easily and are at home in a wide range of soils.(1) They self seed, meaning they will plant themselves again for the next … Read more

Self Care – This Week’s Mindfulness Focus

  Self Care is the mindfulness focus for the week. In observing the garden, it’s obvious  that plants have an internal wisdom about what they need and how to get it, even though they can’t move about. (I do like to imagine when we’re not looking that they do move about like the Ents in … Read more

Patience – This Week’s Mindfulness Focus Word

    Patience is the mindfulness focus word for the week, inspired by blueberries and the solar eclipse.  When I first moved to Denver, a long time resident told me I could NOT grow blueberries in Colorado.  I love blueberries so I ignored that information.  I have waited 5 years for blueberries to grow on … Read more

Mindful Action – Weekly Focus Words

      Mindful Action I’m writing this on Thursday instead of my usual Sunday because I have felt fuzzy about the mindfulness focus for the week and its connection to the gardening world.  I woke up on Sunday morning to find that a young woman had been killed by Nazis on American soil and … Read more

Sunsets and Endings as a Matter of Perspective

  In a week when I have lost one of the dearest people to me on the planet, writing is again a challenge.  However I know that Sam (1) enjoyed reading my blog posts, most of which were inspired by things the two of us talked about.  So he would be happy to know I … Read more

Motion and Light – Mindfulness Focus Words

    There is a tree across the street from the window I’ve been sitting at for the past few days. It’s actually across the street and behind another house. But it’s a massive tree, maybe 70 feet high, so you notice it right away from the window.  It is not just the size of … Read more

Summer Solstice as Mindfulness Focus

    The obvious choice for this week’s mindfulness focus is the summer solstice, which takes place mid-week.(1) (Although maybe I am just looking for a reason to post a picture of the Stonehenge I created in Minecraft, as I am quite proud of it.) Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year and … Read more

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