Landscapes for health « Therapeutic Landscapes Network

“One plant and one deep breath” – TLN member stories

September 7, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

The Therapeutic Landscapes Network recently put a call out for stories or quotes about how contact with nature (or the lack thereof) affects them. We didn’t give many parameters; the stories could be about passive connection (sitting or walking in nature, or even viewing it from indoors) or active (gardening). We received some beautiful responses, some of which will be published in the book on therapeutic landscapes in the healthcare setting that Clare Cooper Marcus and I are co-authoring. Here is the first story in our series:

I was recently diagnosed most surprisingly with early stage breast cancer. Surprisingly because I had had a manual exam the month before with negative results. I have since had, as this was a rapid diagnostic clinic, an operation and follow up treatment is to start soon. Part of the personal issue with stage one is it can be hard to give myself credit for the impact of the diagnosis as I keep running into people with stages three and four. As a social worker I can find myself sometimes giving comfort to others. I have sought out my own social worker for this reason and she has been wonderful. It is also on my balcony garden of tall tall bean plants, impatients, daisies and other flowering plants that I am able to rest and take in the impact and ramifications of what has happened over the last five weeks. I allow myself all the wild emotions and thoughts, as well as the gratitude for the early diagnosis. It is also where I do body scans and meditation. It is through the beautiful breeze in the leaves that I feel complete and relaxed and it is with the visual stimulation of the colours and the shapes that I feel stimulated and optimistic. I am surrounded by an incredible array of natural healing sights and sounds. Who knew a little garden on a tiny tiny urban balcony on the ninth floor could be so important and healing. All it takes is one plant and one deep breath and I am deeply grounded and the world seems right again.

Would you like to share your story? Leave a comment here, or contact us directly. Thank you!

Touched by nature? Share your story!

August 16, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Great Spangled Fritillaries. Photo by Henry Domke, http://www.henrydomke.com

Great Spangled Fritillaries on milkweed. Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

If you’re reading this blog, then you probably believe in the restorative power of nature, and you have probably experienced it once, or a few times, or every day of your life.

Clare Cooper Marcus and I are writing a book on therapeutic landscapes in healthcare environments (to be published by John Wiley & Sons in 2013), and we are looking to incorporate stories – even just 1-2 sentences – by people who have been touched by nature in a positive way.

We are especially looking for stories about how a connection with nature in a hospital or other type of healthcare facility (nursing home, hospice, etc.) helped you, or a friend or loved one, or a client. Whether you are/were a patient, a visitor, a staff member, or a volunteer, if seeing or being in nature has made your life better, we want to hear about it. Or, were you ever in a situation where you or a family member desperately wanted to view or be in a garden or nature, and there was none? We’d like to hear about that, too.

If your story isn’t healthcare related but still has to do with how connecting with nature has helped you emotionally, mentally, physically, even spiritually, tell us that, too.

If you would like to share your story, please leave a comment below. This also allows others to see and hear each others’ words without having to wait for the book to come out! We will most likely use the “storyteller’s” first name and location, but this is not essential. And if this is too public a forum, you can also contact me through the TLN website: www.healinglandscapes.org/contact.

Please pass this post on to anyone else who might have a story to share.

Thank you!

Memorial gardens breathe new life into communities

July 31, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

For days after the Cafe Racer shooting, grief-stricken Seattleites made their way to the building with flowers, candles, and gifts. Photos by Filiz Satir

Guest post by Filiz Satir

On May 30, 2012, a disgruntled Seattle man opened fire inside Seattle’s Café Racer, eventually killing four of the five people he shot. Later that day, the gunman made his way to Seattle’s First Hill where he shot and killed a Seattle woman and stole her vehicle. Hours later, he fatally shot himself.

For days after the May 30 shooting in Seattle that took the lives of four Café Racer patrons, grieving friends, family, and strangers made pilgrimage to the lime green and gray brick building. Floral bouquets, a foot deep, blanketed the length of the building. Taped notes and letters, poems and drawings covered the windows and doors. Artists and musicians held day processions and evening vigils to remember their friends.

Racer Street front door. Photo by Filiz Satir

Friends, family, and neighbors turned Racer Cafe’s exterior and parking strips into a makeshift memorial.

Daily memorializing and nightly rituals were a spontaneous, necessary, and natural way for a community to express its grief and pay respects to five individuals who were gunned down inside the Seattle café and performance venue. What happened in the University District that May morning was random, brutal, and utterly senseless. There are no words to adequately describe the shooting deaths or the depth of pain caused by this act of violence. For the community, the healing process will be ongoing. For those closest to the deceased, recovering will be a life-long endeavor.

How does a community and, in particular, the friends and family of Café Racer victims recover from the horror of multiple shooting deaths? Perhaps the wisdom of conservationist and author Rachel Carson gives us a place to start. In The Sense of Wonder, Carson writes:

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”

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Community Engagement & the Built Environment conference

April 30, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Head Start Preschool, Seattle, WA Photo by Filiz Satir

Head Start Preschool Play Yard, Seattle, WA. Photo by Filiz Satir

Community Built Association Conference: May 30-June 2, 2012

The Community Built Association (CBA) will hold its annual conference in Portland, OR, May 30 – June 2. The interdisciplinary gathering is open to all those interested in community engagement through the lenses of art, play, nature, and the built environment. The conference features presentations and panel discussions related to play environments, gardens and green spaces, public art, and community-engaged architecture. The conference at Portland’s Tabor Space, 5441 S.E. Belmont Street will include:

Presentations and discussions from leaders in the field of community-based practice;

Hands-on workshops that will engage participants’ creativity while they contribute something of lasting value to the local community;

Tours of local “place-making” sites around Portland, where volunteers have shaped community spaces with their own hands over time; and

Informal networking and sharing sessions with inspirational community builders from Portland and around the country.

Artists, architects, builders, organizers, gardeners, planners, and others are all welcome. To learn more and register for the conference, visit the CBA Web site: http://communitybuilt.org/conference/portland_2012.