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Styling Outdoorscapes

3 Cures to Fix What’s Ailing Your Healing Outdoor Haven ~ Part 2 with Tip Sheet!

If you are not feeling the healing benefits of your outdoor haven, it’s because your space isn’t growing your happiness inside; it’s not growing your peace, health, inspiration like it can.

Feeling frenzied by your garden space and need to put it in a time-out? Your space may need a spa-treatment.

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To replenish your scene, reap the benefits and boost your mind, body, spirit, try my Cure #2 for what’s ailing your healing outdoor haven.

(This is Part 2 of a 3-part series – to clean, connect & find comfort naturally, like a spa treatment for you and your outdoor space. Cure 1 is over here. Cliff-notes version? Click here for Your 3 Cures Tip Sheet!) 

Cure 2: Commune to soothe senses

Hummingbird_Purple Salvia

This is a Cure to Grow Your Health through Sensory Connections

With our lives often barraged by a cacophony of circus-like sensory input – overwhelming, draining, stringing us out on our last nerve –  an easy getaway, your elegant escape hatch, aka delightful DND zone right outside our door goes a long way to refuel and reconnect with your easy-breezy-beautiful self again.

Your time outside can be like a spa experience for your senses: boosting energy, bringing clarity, blending gratitude with an all-body renewal practice.  Nature allows for what researchers have deemed “positive momentary distractions”. 

It goes like this: when experiencing a restorative nature space, our senses get a bath of soothing, enchanting, calming sensory input which helps our brains switch gears, focus on the present moment and just rest.  

By making your garden space into a Sanctuary Garden, you indulge yourself in a sensory spa treatment, anytime, right outside your door, engaging all 5 of those frazzled senses in renewal happy dance. This cure is apt to stimulate different parts of your brain, conjure up good memories and lend you the experience of your very own rejuvenation station.

[bctt tweet=” A Sanctuary Garden dials down sensory noise & tunes us into that which soothes & supports.”]

Action-taking Tips:

  • Take green-microbreaks. Let your eyes drink in a comforting, research-proven design recipe for your brain: 1 part calming colors of greens and blues, a dash of natural light and a generous helping of lush plants.
  • Smoky, got your ears on? Appoint your space with pleasing sounds. The tranquility trifecta: chimes, water, wildlife.
  • Stop and smell… scents help us unwind, destress and commune with the memories of good days (and people) past.

Engaging our two or more of our senses in a positive dose of nature allows us to disengage from the frenzy and heal. By making your space a sensory spa experience, you’ll find this cure will energize your health. It will help you disconnect from the go-go-go routine.

This cure fulfills our innate pre-programmed need to connect with nature for an overdue shift back to perspective – and back to the better sense of ourselves.

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Cure #3 about making space comforting for your soul is waiting for you here.

Psst! I have something special for you… 

Get your 1-page Tip Sheet of my 3 Cures to Fix What’s Ailing Your Healing Outdoor Haven.

Click for 3 Cures Tip Sheet!

Need help in transforming your yard space from ugh to AHH! My Sanctuary Garden Design Consultation may just be the help you need

Are you a style-keen, nature-loving, holistically-inclined “soilsoulsister” (or brother) who wants to tune out stress & dis-ease & tune into your mind.body.spirit connection, thanks to your own slice of everyday, personal paradise? Plant-tas-tic! Sign up for news, resources, good shares and we’ll get on with your thriving outside & healing inside.

3 Cures to Fix What’s Ailing Your Healing Outdoor Haven ~ Part 1 with Tip Sheet!

Perhaps a mere second ago, you pulled back the blinds to peek out the window for the umpteenth time. You felt excited after flipping through magazines and cruising Pinterest boards.  And there you were – jazzed and inspired with pulse rate elevated.

So you walked over, peeked out your window or door onto your outdoor space – you know, that would-be-slice-o’-green-paradise.

And felt your tummy and enthusiasm sink and the frustration meter rise. For what you do, and do not see – out there. For what you feel, and do not feel – out there or *in here*.

It’s that familiar pang again. In your heart. That “I want something more”. The “I know there is more to this that that.“

I know that feeling – it’s a craving for something more in AND from your outdoor haven.  And I know the next thing you do is you swoosh those blinds back over the window in a feeling of disgust.

If you are not feeling the healing benefits of your outdoor haven, it’s because your space isn’t growing your happiness inside; it’s not growing your peace, health, inspiration like it can.

It’s not restorative. It’s just not that rejuvenating oasis – serenity now! – that your heart, head, soul yearn for – deeply. I wrote about why having a DND Zone is crucial. But what if you’re just getting started, right?3

If you’re not feeling the healing in your outdoor haven, your space may need a place-lift.

(This is Part 1 of a 3-part series – to clean, connect & find comfort naturally because your peace of mind depends on it. Cliff-notes version? Click here for Your 3 Cures Tip Sheet!) 

Cure 1: Clean for your sanity

Summer_Purple Salvia and Petunia

This is a Cure to Grow Peace to Lift Your Mind

I’m am not suggesting a sterile environ nor one of strict architectural allegiance. Any visitor to my own gardens knows that’s not how this Fairy Healing Garden Godmother rolls. Instead, I’m talking about helping your brain process better – easier – by cleaning out the space that surrounds your living and waking moments for flow and ease. Working with clients, this is the very first stop on the #thrivingoutsidehealinginside train. Let’s face it, a messy, cluttered, disjointed space causes undue stress and makes us feel confused, tired, guilty. 

Decluttering outside helps declutter inside. This is about creating tranquility, friend. And allowing Peace to flow inside and outside.  It’s said that the space around us is reflective of what’s going on inside of us, our unconsciousness and lives. By cleaning and releasing clutter for the intention of creating your serene green scene you’re more apt to better #mindthegardenofyourmind.

And you’ll find that you’re less preoccupied with all of *that* and more open to receiving the peace available right at your (bare) feet.

[bctt tweet=”Can’t follow the scene? Then your garden space ain’t got flow & your mind is aching for ease.”]

Action-taking Tips:

  • Put things away and donate the miscellaneous and extraneous.  Tidying is a practice in reverence – everything has its place, everything in its space – around you and inside you. And as a fav saying goes: My place is a reflection of my mind space. 
  • Make space for your greatness by clearing out debris. Then your brain doesn’t have to work as hard to make sense of the scene. As you likely know, we don’t perform, live, thrive at our best in a space that our brains can’t easily “read”.
  • Fix a singular, intimate view that’s been bugging you. Hire a pro to offer suggestions. (I can help you with that here.) 

It is much easier to experience the gift of Peace in the present moment when you, your brain and your eyes aren’t darting all around.

By clearing and cleaning, you’ll find your mind more at ease and able to soak in nature’s good vibrations. This cure alone – a more organized, flowing space – grows your sense of happiness and relaxation. For more inspired ideas on decluttering, check out Marie Kondo’s book: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.

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Cure #2 about soothing your senses is right over here. Come read on…

Meanwhile, I have something special for you… 

Get your 1-page Tip Sheet of my 3 Cures to Fix What’s Ailing Your Healing Outdoor Haven.

Click for 3 Cures Tip Sheet!

Need help in transforming your yard space from ugh to AHH! My Sanctuary Garden Design Consultation may just be the help you need

Are you a style-keen, nature-loving, holistically-inclined “soilsoulsister” (or brother) who wants to tune out stress & dis-ease & tune into your mind.body.spirit connection, thanks to your own slice of everyday, personal paradise? Plant-tas-tic! Sign up for news, resources, good shares and we’ll get on with your thriving outside & healing inside.

Create Your Perfect Space: Cultivate Your Garden With Intention


(This is part 1 of a 3-part series – a Spring Manifesto – to help you set your intention, seek inspiration, and begin the curation process to create a holistic and restorative garden space.)

It’s spring (or almost)! It’s a season of new beginnings and fresh starts, and it’s natural as your outside changes to desire changes, inside, too.

Wherever your heart is at this spring, your garden is ready to reflect what you need most from it. So I have a question for you.

What are your purest desires for your garden?

Health? Peace? Rejuvenation?
What’s on your Wishing Tree?

Let me be direct – here you are reading a blog written by a restorative garden designer. So do tell, are you yearning to connect with the life force and have a beautiful, sacred space?

Garden design, especially restorative garden design, is not about landscaping. Anyone can landscape by coming up with few ideas, buying some plants and plunking them down into an exterior space.

And what does that get you? A lampshade. It’s merely cosmetic & decorative. And it may make it a little more cheerful for a few weeks until the new plants and purchases fade. I see what you are really searching for – there’s an intention.

You go outdoors to fill up and let go. You want a deeper connection. You want to be in your space and find freedom from obligations and all of the things you do for other people every day and just have this moment. Just for you.

That’s what you want from your garden space. That’s what you need from your outdoor living space.

You can have that space your soul is longing for.

Truly. It’s a matter of transformative art + heart + science (and I’ll keep the science easy-breezy).

This is my gift to you this spring. At the end of this three-part spring manifesto, you will have set your intention for your space, found your sacred sources of inspiration, and begun the curation process to start creating your restorative garden.

So let’s begin with intention.

Intention in·ten·tion (ĭn-těn’shən)

n.

  1. An aim that guides action.
  2. The process by which or the manner in which a wound heals.

A healing garden is about intention. For a garden in the healthcare realm, we’d look to the treatment plan. For you, it’s how you will feel good-better-best, because of and while you’re in, your outdoor space. And since intention is related to both how we take action and how we heal, every restorative garden begins with this.

The dynamic researchers and professors of enviropsychology at the University of Michigan, Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, lend us this tidbit about nature and Attention Restoration Theory.

Wherever we sit, the influences of our environment (read: landscape) impact how we manage the immediate task at hand and directly impact the healing we may experience, and our personal and unique life experiences influence what we need and how we see our ‘land.’

Meaning: The outside space you long for in times of stress is embedded in your genetic make-up.

Yep. You come programmed that way. It’s in your DNA nature. No two Red Birds are the same, and neither are any two healing garden spaces. This knowledge is a wonderful gift – knowing your perfect space isn’t the same as anyone else’s gives you more freedom to express your precious self outdoors.

Research repeatedly tells us about better recovery rates for patients and care staff and families less stressed when views to sensitively and intentionally designed gardens/naturescapes are available in hospital rooms. (Has this happened for you, too? Has for me!)

Documented transformation attributed to green views are:

  • Decreased blood pressure, muscle tension and sense of pain
  • Elevated mood
  • Relief from stress
  • Increased immune functioning
  • Better sleep and concentration ability
  • Improved self-discipline

Sign me up, right?

Creating an intentional restorative space gives your mind’s eye something to see beyond a stressful situation. It’s that scene you see when someone suggests you “go to your happy place.” We hold calming, soothing nature-based scenes in our memory and draw upon them during the rough patches.

For you, I want that to be in real time –

Your garden / outdoor space can be your Serenity Now! scene. @AnnieRedBird

Click To Tweet

Set Your Intention

For some clients, the intention set is one word: serenity, sanctuary, beauty, renewal… What’s your wish? What word would you hang from your Wishing Tree that describes that precious, possibly secret hope for you and those who share in your outdoor sanctuary space?

Today, spend some time choosing your intention for your garden space. Creative forces flow through you.  Trust being present so that your creative spirit may flourish, allowing yourself to cultivate the most right and healing intention.

Share your intention on social media by tagging me @annieredbird using #HealingGardenHappyPlace so that I might hold that scene for you in my #GardenHeart.

(And then, Pin, pass on, Instagram this series this with someone who could use the healing power of nature in their life.)

Ready for part 2 of this manifesto? Find inspiration to discover your secret garden’s main ingredient waiting for you here in part 2 of this series. 

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