Mindfulness Garden Games
by Joann Calabrese
author of Growing Mindful

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

Small Miracles – Mindfulness Focus Words

      I returned home from Pennsylvania to find my gardens very much alive, in spite of the blazing Denver sun. Thank you to all my wonderful friends and family who were watering.  As I wandered through the gardens, I discovered three tiny pears on my pear tree. And that is  a small miracle. … 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

Making Peace with the Messiness of Gardens & Life

        This week’s mindfulness concept was inspired by the irises blooming in my yard.  When I first moved into my Denver home, a friend offered me iris tubers. I was happy to have them and assumed she was simply thinning hers, which needs to be done periodically. But no… she  told me … Read more

Impermanence – This Week’s Mindfulness Focus Word

    Impermanence is the focus word this week, inspired by the loss of my tiny pears and apples that were just forming on trees. I was relieved two weeks ago when they made it through a severe Denver cold snap. And I wrongly assumed we were over the worst of the cold. During the … Read more

Duality – Hummingbird Hawk Moths, Hornworms, and the Nature of Reality

      Duality is my intentional focus word this week.  Duality is that concept that polar opposites are part of the same whole. But more than that, they are intimately related and give rise to the other. In the yin-yang symbol of Chinese philosophy, the white part of the symbol has a dot of black … Read more

Listening – Mindfulness Focus Words – Week 13

Listening with Intention Listening is the mindfulness focus word this week. It may seem like the easiest thing in the world and at first glance it appears that not much effort is required. Yet mindful listening is not a passive activity. Instead, we are actively participating but in a quiet and intentional way.  Although there … Read more

Balance – Mindfulness Focus Word Experiment Week 12

Balance is the Mindfulness Focus this week. Spring arrives at 4:28 AM Mountain Time on Monday March 20th.(1)  And although spring can represent newness to many people, it’s very much about balance. Consider this – As we circle around the sun, the two equinoxes (spring and fall) are the counterpoints to the winter and summer … Read more

Dandelion Resilience – Mindfulness Focus Week 10

Dandelion Resilience Resilience, the ability to bounce back from adversity, is  the mindfulness practice word for the week.  The goal is to intentionally notice resilience in ourselves, others, and the world.  I can’t think of a better example of resilience in the plant world than dandelions. And with Denver’s recent 60 degree days, I’ve sighted … Read more

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