Wayside Gardens: Gardening For Personal Growth

One of the hottest jobs to emerge during the past few years is coaching, already a booming business before the economic downturn. Recently, the recession has been driving the market toward personal and career coaching, but the newest big idea to hit this type of paid mentoring is meaning coaching. Because meaning originates from inside ourselves, not from the outside world, the ability to construct a meaningful life depends upon our capacity and willingness to take positive actions to incorporate into our lives those aspects of life that we personally value, including gardening.By connecting the transformational power of gardening to the choices that gardeners make, a gardener-centric coach can help them create personal spaces that are not only beautiful and healthy, but also provide a sanctuary from the world that speaks to their souls.Making our own meaning encompasses the thought, energy, emotion, time, money, and commitment we're willing to expend in the service of bringing our own dreams into reality. In the context of gardening, this means tuning in to why we feel our view of gardening is important and asserting that to be a sufficient reason to garden in our own way.For example, one gardener gave herself no credit for the multitude of gardening decisions she had made over the course of 30 years. After a tour of the garden and some discussion with a gardener coach, her view of her garden and her place within it had completely changed, in half an hour. Within three months, her ability to stick to her own priorities skyrocketed.Similarly, a person who cares deeply about the impact of chemicals on groundwater will not be comfortable having a lawn service spray pesticides on a regular schedule, if at all. A vegan who is growing her own vegetables will want to know the exact source and composition of any compost she uses.Gardener coaching is different from garden coachingGarden coaches made a big splash when they came on the scene about five years ago. They've been covered by The New York Times and other national newspapers, and radio and television networks. Garden coaching concentrates on horticultural knowledge and the mechanical skills of growing plants.Gardener coaching focuses instead on the personal growth of gardeners in order to help them reach a mental space that allows them to develop an intimate, holistic relationship with their land. Through a series of personalized assignments and exercises gardeners can learn how to rediscover and focus on the things that really matter to them about their gardens, restore meaning to their gardening efforts, and revitalize a cherished pastime.Garden coaching is by its nature local, so that the coach can physically go to the garden. But a gardener coach can work with anyone anywhere in the world. All clients need is a mode of communication and some pictures of their garden. Computers and digital cameras make it all very easy.Medical practitioners and landscape designers have been dancing around the link between plants and people for decades. Research shows that having hospital rooms that face a garden quickens patient recovery, so hospitals construct them that way because it works. But such patients are passive onlookers; not participants. Instead, hospitals need to open an avenue through which patients, staff, and visitors can interact with the garden on terms that are meaningful to them. This is somewhat different from horticultural therapy programs in which gardening is used as the means to accomplish specific physical or mental therapy goals.Similarly, landscape designers understand that some people experience a spiritual boost in gardens that are intended to evoke a certain mood. Gardeners will react to the design in their own distinctive ways. But not every gardener will have a similar reaction to a specific design, because 'spiritual' means different things to different people.The secret to opening this path to everyone is to approach it by involving people in an intimate and meaningful way from the very beginning.When can gardener-centric coaching help?There are different milestones in gardeners' lives when gardener-focused coaching can breathe new life into an established hobby, regardless of the gardener's level of expertise:To bring another perspective to experienced gardeners who have gotten stuck in their progress.
When gardeners want to learn how to better express their own creativity and personality through gardening.
To build confidence in shaping the direction taken by professionals they employ.
When they want someone who will hold them accountable for working towards their goals on a regular basis.
For assistance in figuring out themes, periods, styles, etc., that match the gardener's personality and values.
To inject new vitality when gardening starts to feel dull and uninteresting, and
For novice gardeners who often don't know where to start.We all want to believe we can do things on our own, but it's a whole lot easier when someone else takes us out of our normal mental and physical space and helps us see with new eyes. [EXTRACT] One of the better jobs that come up during the last years is the coaching, and a booming business before the economic crisis. Recently, the recession has been driving the market towards personal and professional coaching, but the last big idea to hit this type of mentoring is the meaning of paid coaching. Because the meaning arises from within ourselves, not the outside world, the ability to build a meaningful life depends on our ability and willingness to take positive steps to incorporate into our lives those aspects of life that I personally value, including gardening . By connecting the transformative power of gardening to the choices they make gardeners, gardener focused coach can help create personal spaces that are not only beautiful and healthy, but also provide a sanctuary in the world that speaks to their souls. Make our own meaning encompasses the thought, energy, emotion, time, money and commitment we are willing to spend on the service to bring our dreams into reality. In the context of gardening, this means that we are in tune with our point of view of the garden is important and the claim that to be reason enough to garden in our own way.For example, a gardener was given no credit by the multitude of decisions that had been gardening over 30 years. After a tour of the garden and some discussion with a coach as a gardener, your point of view of your garden and your place within it had changed completely in half an hour. Within three months, their ability to meet their own priorities skyrocketed. Similarly, a person who cares deeply about the impact of chemicals in groundwater are not comfortable with a lawn service spray pesticides on a regular schedule, if at all. A vegan who is growing their own vegetables will want to know the exact origin and composition of any payment that is different uses.Gardener garden coach coaches coachingGarden made quite a stir when he appeared on the scene five years ago. They have been covered by the New York Times and other national newspapers, and radio and television. Training focuses on garden gardening knowledge and skills growth mechanics plants.Gardener coaching focuses instead on personal growth gardeners to help them reach a mental space that allows them to develop an intimate and integral with their land. Through a series of tasks and exercises customized gardeners can learn to discover and focus on things that really matter to them about their gardens, make sense of their gardening efforts, and revitalizing a trainer pastime.Garden appreciated for its local nature, so the trainer can go to the garden. But a gardener coach can work with anyone anywhere in the world. All customers need is a mode of communication and some pictures of your garden. Computers and digital cameras make it very easy.Medical all professionals and landscapers have been dancing around the link between plants and people for decades. Research shows that having hospital rooms facing the garden speeds up patient recovery, so that hospitals build them that way because it works. However, these patients are passive spectators, not participants. Instead, hospitals need to open a channel through which patients, staff and visitors can interact with the garden in the terms that are meaningful to them. This is somewhat different from horticultural therapy programs in which the garden is used as a means to carry out a specific treatment goals.Similarly physical or mental, landscapers understand that some people experience a spiritual rebirth in the gardens that are intended to evoke a state of mind. Gardeners will react with the design in their distinctive shapes. But not every gardener will have a similar reaction to a specific design, for "spiritual" means different things to different people.The secret to opening this way everyone is approaching it through the participation of people in a way intimate and meaningful from the start. When can Gardener training focuses on helping Different milestones in life gardener gardeners when focused on coaching can give new life to a love set, regardless of experience level gardener: To bring another perspective to experienced gardeners who have been standing on their progress. If gardeners want to learn how to better express their own creativity and personality through gardening. To build confidence in shaping the direction taken by the professionals they employ. When you want someone who will hold them accountable to pursue its objectives on a regular basis. For help in finding out the issues, periods, styles, etc. that match the personality of the gardener and values. To inject a new vitality to the garden begins to feel dull and uninteresting, and For novice gardeners often do not know where start.We all want to believe we can do things on our own, but it is much easier when someone takes us out of our normal mental and physical space and helps us see with new eyes.