Blog: Musings on the Earth, Mindful Living, and our Connections
It’s all about the Soil
“It’s All About the Soil.” So reads the headline for a website discussing regenerative agriculture.
I’m torn between fear and possibility. Evidence of climate change worsens every place we breathe. I read several summaries of the most recent UN report on the climate crisis in which Antonio Guterres declares a “code red for humanity.”
Yikes. …
Mindfulness in the Garden
This weekend I had the opportunity to lead a session at the 2018 Good Food EXPO, a conference for all things garden, farming and fresh food related. It was my fourth year at the conference. The first year I attended, I met a young man – a high school student – named Lucas Zeidner. We...
Mindfulness, Chocolate and Walking
When you think of mindfulness, what comes to mind? I recognize that’s a pun of sorts. Apologies. When someone tells us to be mindful of something, they are seeking for us to pay attention, to focus ourselves to make sure we are present for a particular event, thought, or activity. Teaching mindfulness has the same goal. We...
Unexpected Interweavings
Life is filled with unexpected interweavings, cycles and circles. I experienced some of these this past week on my JMMTT – Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training – at Isabella Freedman retreat center and farm. Nestled in the woods of Falls Village, CT, about 90 minutes from the nearest airport, the center boasts trails and a pond, several greenhouses, a large network of yards and structures for goats and chickens, and extensive fields for produce and fruit orchards.
How Do We Measure Success?
Working with people is the joy of our work here at In the Gardens, whether it is helping them discover a love of fresh food as they grow and harvest, or guiding them to greater balance in their actions with self and others through mindfulness practice. It is in our interactions with the people that we serve and employ, our volunteers, and our donors that we fulfill our mission. Here are…
Listening to the Silence
I spent last week in silence. I was at the JMMTT—Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training—a 15-month program that began last May. It is an advanced step from the 18-month Clergy Leadership Program in mindfulness practices that I completed a year ago July.
As I posted on my Facebook page, I celebrated my birthday in silence. That was different. I also observed Election Day in silence. Our retreat guides were sensitive enough to the issues of our country to host an optional “election practice” evening in…
Kindness Shining Through
Throughout this High Holy Day season, I have been thinking about the importance of kindness, and what an important difference it makes. In that spirit I would like to share a (slightly updated) blog post with you that I wrote in February of 2012 for Find Fulfill Flourish, a book I co-authored with Steve Weitzenkorn. May it inspire us to offer kind deeds of our own, with the hope of setting greater kindness in motion in our world.
Last night…
Shanah Tovah U’metukah — A Good and Sweet Year from In the Gardens
Shanah tovah! That means “A good New Year to you.”
We are approaching the High Holy Days in the Jewish calendar. These days begin with Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Days of Awe or the Ten Days of Return. The season quickly gives way to Sukkot, an eight-day holiday celebrating the harvest and the earth’s bounty. We acknowledge that the Creator and the earth have provided for us for another year. We pray for rain so that next year, too, will be…
Feeding Each Other
There is a Jewish story about a man who dies and meets an angel at the gates of heaven. The angel tells the man that he has the choice to go to heaven or hell, and the angel will take him to both places so he can decide. When he goes to hell, the man sees a large banquet table filled with every kind of food imaginable. Each person sitting around the table has arms with no elbows, so while they can lift their fork, try as hard as they may, …
Welcome to In the Gardens!
Welcome to In the Gardens and our new blog. We have been awhile in the making. One year and one concussion later, we are finally launching our website and we are proud of it!
In our blog we will be musing (short posts, mostly!) on topics that relate to the earth and gardening, to mindfulness practice and mindful living, and to our interconnectedness – each of us to one another. It is our experience that working the earth helps to bring us