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How to Notice Nature Using Mindfulness Techniques

September 25 2025October 16, 2025

Saturday, October 18, 2025

Lucas County and Wood County Master Gardener Volunteers are hosting Noticing Nature at the Toledo Botanical Garden Metropark, Toledo, Ohio. They invite us to, “Take a day to pause, learn, and connect with the beauty of the natural world while we explore how mindful choices can make a meaningful difference – for the environment and for you as a gardener”.

This page has links to examples, resources and references as you create you own Mindfulness Toolkit. If you have questions about mindfulness, please email Patrice Powers-Barker at the Lucas County office, powers-barker.1@osu.edu

Toolkit (pdf): How to Notice Nature Using Mindfulness Techniques – a Toolkit

PowerPoint: Notice Nature Using Mindfulness Techniques

If you’d like to learn more about different mindfulness practices, the OSU Extension Mindful Wellness team shares:

Follow the Live Smart Ohio Mind and Body Blog
Ohio State’s Center for Integrative Health and Wellness offers free mindfulness recordings for personal use through the OSU Wexner Medical Center.
Follow the Family and Consumer Sciences, Live Smart Ohio Facebook page for Mindful Monday posts https://www.facebook.com/livesmartohio
- Examples of Mindful Monday posts related to nature:

References from Presentation and Toolkit:

Bergstrom. C. (2017). Three Senses Mindfulness Activity for Kids, Teens and Grown-ups. https://blissfulkids.com/three-senses-mindfulness-activity-kids-teens-grown-ups/

Boggs, J. (2025). Our All-American Lotus. Buckeye Yard and Garden Online. https://bygl.osu.edu/index.php/node/2535

Branstrom, I. (2020). Smart Gardening: Integrated pest management in vegetable gardens. Michigan State University Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/ipm_smart_pest_management_for_the_vegetable_garden

Eight Surprising health benefits of gardening. UNC Health Talk. (2020). https://healthtalk.unchealthcare.org/health-benefits-of-gardening/

Fuller, J. L., & Fitter, E. A. (2020). Mindful Parenting: A Behavioral Tool for Parent Well-Being. Behavior analysis in practice, 13(4), 767–
771. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00447-6

Gibb, T. (2022). Picture of the week: Good luck or bad luck? https://ag.purdue.edu/department/btny/ppdl/potw-dept-folder/2022/tomato-hornworm.html

Labyrinth locator. (2024). The Labyrinth Society & Veriditas. https://labyrinthlocator.org/

Nature Matters. (2025). The Ohio State University. https://warren.osu.edu/program-areas/family-and-consumer-sciences/healthy-people/nature-matters

Powers-Barker, P. (2025). Introduction to mindfulness. https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-5243

Powers-Barker, P. (2024). Life is a journey, so is a labyrinth. https://livesmartohio.osu.edu/mind-and-body/powers-barker-1osu-edu/life-is-a-journey-so-is-a-labyrinth /

Stanton, L. (2024). Seeking awe in nature. https://u.osu.edu/livehealthyosu/2024/05/15/seeking-awe-in-nature/

Add Mindfulness to Your Garden Toolkit

September 5 2025October 7, 2025

Botanica, Gardening for the Mind, Body and Spirit

Stark County Master Gardener Volunteer Program, Saturday, September 27, 2025

Keynote: Life Lessons from the Garden for Mind, Body and Spirit. Discover how gardening nurtures not only flowers and food, but also a healthy, joyful life. Understand how the science of the brain, mindfulness and sensory experiences support overall wellness.

Handout: Life Lessons from the Garden for Mind, Body & Spirit Handout

PowerPoint: Gardening for Mind, Body, and Spirit Presentation

Additional Resources from presentation:

Short, mindfulness practice from the presentation: Three Things by Chris Bergstrom
National Wildlife Federation Sacred Grounds and Toledo Lucas County (TLC) Raingarden Initiative – what is a rain garden?
Ohio AgrAbility, geared towards farming but shares applicable tips for (smaller scale) gardening https://agrability.osu.edu/
- Farm Science Review (annual event in September) is one location to learn about and see AgrAbility concepts as well as a display house and garage on Universal Design concepts – in addition to examples of accessible raised garden beds.
- Gardening with a Physical Limitation Factsheet by Dee Jepsen
Blog – Life is a Journey. So is a Labyrinth. includes links to a variety of resources including:
- Printable Labyrinth from World Labyrinth Day, one example on page two of today’s handout
- World-wide Labyrinth Locator
Want to learn more about mindfulness practices and exercises? A Day of Mini Mindfulness Practices (blog with links to a variety of short practices) and Introduction to Mindfulness FactSheet by Patrice Powers-Barker

References from presentation:

In addition to the resources listed above, a few more references that were used for this presentation

Boggs, J. (2025). Our All-American Lotus. Buckeye Yard and Garden Online. https://bygl.osu.edu/index.php/node/2535

Community Gardens plant seeds for healthy nutrition, healthy life. (2024). Ohio Department of Health. https://odh.ohio.gov/media-center/feature-stories/march-is-national-nutrition-month

Eight Surprising health benefits of gardening. UNC Health Talk. (2020). https://healthtalk.unchealthcare.org/health-benefits-of-gardening/

Fisch, Verena. (2023). Beyond the human – Garden communities in community gardens. Social Work & Society. 21. https://ejournals.bib.uni-wuppertal.de/index.php/sws/article/view/840

Gries, A. (2021). The miracle of the lotus flower. https://awakeningshealth.com/2021/09/08/the-miracle-of-the-lotus-flower/

Smart Gardening: Integrated pest management in vegetable gardens, Michigan State University Extension, https://www.canr.msu.edu/home_gardening/uploads/files/IPMgarden-2020-web.pdf

Stanton, L. (2024). Seeking awe in nature. https://u.osu.edu/livehealthyosu/2024/05/15/seeking-awe-in-nature/

Upcycled garden tools

April 20 2021

Gardening is an activity for all ages, abilities, spaces, and backgrounds. While it’s enjoyable to dream about all the seeds, plants, and tools that could be purchased for the garden, there are just as many options that can be saved, reused, or shared. These examples are certainly not exhaustive. Use this as a starting point to decide on your best upcycled tools for the family garden. Check here for other ideas for reusing over recycling from NC State Extension.