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 Bergman
- 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/