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Mindful Thoughts
Mindful Thoughts for Gardeners: Sowing Seeds of Awareness
Embracing gardening as a spiritually enriching activity lovingly reconnects us to nature everyday—this beautifully illustrated little book reminds us how to do it. Rooting each blossoming thought in deep ecology and conscious living, we unearth the power inherent in mindfully lifting the soil; it lifts our souls as well.
Mindful Thoughts for Gardeners sows a series of meditations about tending the Earth wholeheartedly. Author Clea Danaan explores the interconnectedness of nature in this carefully-crafted small volume that any green-fingered grower will want to dig into.
Mindful Thoughts for Gardeners sows a series of meditations about tending the Earth wholeheartedly. Author Clea Danaan explores the interconnectedness of nature in this carefully-crafted small volume that any green-fingered grower will want to dig into.
- GenresGardening
160 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2018
8 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Clea Danaan
16 books26 followersMy ecospiritual books grew out of a winding path, from my childhood in the Pacific Northwest and integral studies at Fairhaven College, on to massage school and Reiki training, and then graduate studies in Wisdom Traditions, somatic psychology, education, and creative writing. My dream is that all people would find their soul work, which heals people and our fellow earthlings on many levels. Visit me at CleaDanaan.com .
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 5, 2023
The garden as a microcosm for our lives and the cycles of life, death and rebirth, with an awareness of the impacts of culture and communities in shaping who we are. Fresh insights on every page made me stop and take a long breath, savoring wisdom gained.
March 13, 2018
Oh, how I wanted to like this book! I loved the cover and I loved the premise -- meditations for gardeners about life gleaned through digging in the dirt and growing, which is what all gardeners love to do.
I was able to preview the book through NetGalley, whose description read: "Embracing gardening as a spiritually enriching activity lovingly reconnects us to nature everyday—this beautifully illustrated little book reminds us how to do it. Rooting each blossoming thought in deep ecology and conscious living, we unearth the power inherent in mindfully lifting the soil; it lifts our souls as well" and "Beautifully illustrated for daily inspiration." I was sold, and read it all in one sitting.
This is a small book, and even though it's over 100 pages, it is a very quick read. There are sweet, simple illustrations that accompany the text, and one or two dozen chapters on subjects like bees, permaculture, worms, garden problems and so on. Each short chapter has the author's musings on life meanings that you can gather from these topics. Winter hoop gardens reminds her that we humans are like plants and are tougher than we think sometimes and need a period of rest, for instance (said in far more words, of course).
I think my problem is that I just misunderstood the point of the book. I expected it to be more along the lines of assignments for mindful thoughts for the reader, I guess (Something along the lines of a daily task to meditate about regarding ways to improve our own gardens/lives or even something like "Think of a plant that has surprised you in the garden this year. What did you learn from it? How is it like you?" perhaps? LOL). I expected some questions to ask myself as a gardener and questioner, or gardening thoughts to meditate on (a short quote about gardens to repeat instead of om?), or something to encourage ME to think and be mindful. Instead, these are the author's rambling thoughts on each topic and I felt as if I were just listening to her wax poetic on soil and hugulkultur (which I do love, too, and I did appreciate her thoughts on being patient with that process). These thoughts are somewhat poetic and philosophical -- and sometimes helpful for the novice gardener -- but nothing particularly deep or insightful for "daily inspiration."
This is also a small, rather irrelevant point, but I didn't really relate to the author as a mother and I think that interfered with my ability to really relate to her musings. At the very start of the book, she writes about misplacing her 10 month old daughter in the house one day and finding that she'd gone out the open back door and crawled a long ways into the garden, where she was picking green tomatoes, taking bites and tossing them. Apparently this happened a lot in the months to come, as the author wrote that she ended up having to toss a lot of bitten green tomatoes into the compost that year. As a very hands-on mother of five, I was a little taken aback by the fact that a 10 month old baby was able to just crawl out of the house and into the back yard, that she was missing long enough to crawl a distance that the author says was a considerable ways, and that the author's only reaction in the book was, "It sort of annoyed me, but at the same time I celebrated her determination and curiosity." If my infant was able to completely leave our home unnoticed, crawl off and start eating plants (or anything) outside, I'd have a small heart attack and seriously up my baby proofing. :) (Note: This didn't influence my rating, it was just something that stuck with me.)
That said, I'm sure this book will really strike a pleasant chord with some readers and it would make a nice inexpensive gift for a gardening friend who leans towards this sort of book.
I was able to preview the book through NetGalley, whose description read: "Embracing gardening as a spiritually enriching activity lovingly reconnects us to nature everyday—this beautifully illustrated little book reminds us how to do it. Rooting each blossoming thought in deep ecology and conscious living, we unearth the power inherent in mindfully lifting the soil; it lifts our souls as well" and "Beautifully illustrated for daily inspiration." I was sold, and read it all in one sitting.
This is a small book, and even though it's over 100 pages, it is a very quick read. There are sweet, simple illustrations that accompany the text, and one or two dozen chapters on subjects like bees, permaculture, worms, garden problems and so on. Each short chapter has the author's musings on life meanings that you can gather from these topics. Winter hoop gardens reminds her that we humans are like plants and are tougher than we think sometimes and need a period of rest, for instance (said in far more words, of course).
I think my problem is that I just misunderstood the point of the book. I expected it to be more along the lines of assignments for mindful thoughts for the reader, I guess (Something along the lines of a daily task to meditate about regarding ways to improve our own gardens/lives or even something like "Think of a plant that has surprised you in the garden this year. What did you learn from it? How is it like you?" perhaps? LOL). I expected some questions to ask myself as a gardener and questioner, or gardening thoughts to meditate on (a short quote about gardens to repeat instead of om?), or something to encourage ME to think and be mindful. Instead, these are the author's rambling thoughts on each topic and I felt as if I were just listening to her wax poetic on soil and hugulkultur (which I do love, too, and I did appreciate her thoughts on being patient with that process). These thoughts are somewhat poetic and philosophical -- and sometimes helpful for the novice gardener -- but nothing particularly deep or insightful for "daily inspiration."
This is also a small, rather irrelevant point, but I didn't really relate to the author as a mother and I think that interfered with my ability to really relate to her musings. At the very start of the book, she writes about misplacing her 10 month old daughter in the house one day and finding that she'd gone out the open back door and crawled a long ways into the garden, where she was picking green tomatoes, taking bites and tossing them. Apparently this happened a lot in the months to come, as the author wrote that she ended up having to toss a lot of bitten green tomatoes into the compost that year. As a very hands-on mother of five, I was a little taken aback by the fact that a 10 month old baby was able to just crawl out of the house and into the back yard, that she was missing long enough to crawl a distance that the author says was a considerable ways, and that the author's only reaction in the book was, "It sort of annoyed me, but at the same time I celebrated her determination and curiosity." If my infant was able to completely leave our home unnoticed, crawl off and start eating plants (or anything) outside, I'd have a small heart attack and seriously up my baby proofing. :) (Note: This didn't influence my rating, it was just something that stuck with me.)
That said, I'm sure this book will really strike a pleasant chord with some readers and it would make a nice inexpensive gift for a gardening friend who leans towards this sort of book.
October 24, 2020
Danaan, Clea
Mindful thoughts for Gardeners – Sowing sedes of awareness}
Leaping Hare Press, 2018, London
Very nice book. Short chapters with meaningful content for your own awareness, and… for your garden. Cultivating a garden means establishing an environment that is sending you messages all the time. Can I get them? Let´s explore it and we will see how complex the garden is. Particularly if the garden includes us as one of its components. We are in the garden and the garden is within us.
If I remember my own practice (Puerto Obaldía, Chía-1, Oxford, and Chía-2), I have kept all the time an open mind, a beginner's mind. Perhaps a new practice started during the last 5 years because of our interaction with other gardeners, with the SENA, the Mayor, and the CAR. I am learning all the time new tricks, but I need to dedicate time. Can we release from the need to achieve anything?
During the last 5 years, I have worked in understanding the performance of 10 of the biggest companies in the world. I have studied global reports written by very good researchers and I have understood some of their achievements and challenges. When I look into our garden I see promises and hopes = life concentrate. In many cases, you can “read” hidden instructions on how to get life. First of all, is to respect them.
If I see my surroundings I can see red grape seeds, which will not grow in Chía. If I move 30 steps into our garden… I am lost. It’s quite easy to see the seed packages and the plants that we got from Pablo and Ernie: purple dragon carrot, yellow courgettes, striped tomatoes Tigerella, Brussels sprouts, multicolored Swiss chard; cucamelon, blue borage, lime basil, Agastache, and mint. I can remember perfectly well where they are planted and how they have been growing. If I go into our shed and look into the seedbox, I can see other varieties of chard, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, and several types of kale. Well, all of this is under “control”. But, if I look further into the garden I can see how the birds are interacting and how they plant lulos and uchuvas wherever they want.
Something similar happens when I go into our kitchen and see all the seeds that are part of our food: sunflower, wheat, quinoa, Brazilian nuts. If I go out from La Costanza, here in Colombia and all over Latin America, I can see the communities of Campesinos and indigenous people keeping their seeds bank. This is a historic event.
In a very slow process, I am discovering our relationship with the soil. Do I feel the scent that many of its parts are sending? It’s evident that I can get just a few signals and that I need to develop a deeper relationship. “We pray: grow” (25), and we are dancing to live. Our compost is beautiful, but
I don’t know well how “adding compost, manure, minerals, and other amendments feeds the network of bacteria, fungi, nematodes an earthworms”. 26 As Katie James’s aunt would sing: when our journey is finished, we will go back to the soil. I want to go back to a garden.
Earthworms are part of the soil. We have tried to grow earthworms. It is relatively easy. We have seen the process done by one of our neighbors, and it is great to see how he is using worms, horse manure, and rainwater. It is important to plant a significant amount of worms, in order to get compost in a very slow process. The investment is relatively high. In our case, after considering several variables, it becomes easier to buy compost from our neighbor. As a result, “the earth contains fewer toxins and more available nutrients” 31. “An earthworm is a meditation on transformation, but also on how transformation needs to happen in its own just-right time” 32.
Our roots are grounded with those other friends who garden. It can be here or there.Yes, “when you pull up a root, many of these finer threads break off and remain in the soil to decay, adding organic matter”.36 Let’s allow ourselves to keep rooted and grounded.
We are inviting photosynthesis all the time: give and take. Be like a plant for a moment and keep more balance. Let’s express our light.
What to do with weeds? Are they good or bad? We can be sure that they are and will be part of the garden. Let’s see what we have and try to know their role in the garden-web. Let’s move forward from the point of acceptance.
Repurposing is ecological and turns our garden into a masterpiece of innovation. “The garden is a long conversation between the land and the gardener”.66 Use of our own materials, using vines and bamboo.
Plants are adept at intelligent processes. Do plants try to communicate with us?72 We become part of the garden itself and see plant perspectives. “I am filled with respect. I am curious and open. I feel gratitude”. 75 “What are you grateful for today?”.79 “Notice how your energy has shifted simply by feeling gratitude”. 81
I have to see how to go with the flow: trimming, products, chicken poo out of the coop. “In the garden we work with natural rules, things we cannot rush or control”. 85
Our sense of community: let’s see how to have more stone soups! Coming together in a love of green and growing things. Online connections, strengthening the whole world.
Let’s try to develop permaculture in order to get a balanced environment, so that rain will help the whole to bring life. What kind of rain do we love? Rain is an invitation for mindfulness. 116 Be present while raining. “Can you feel more moisture in the air? You are breathing in water from some other place on Earth”. 117
Every garden is a prayer. Hope is always there and we plant anyway. “I grasp on to the hope that the garden provides me, and commit to the change and the growth that needs to happen.”123
The hum of a bee around a flower is magic: joyful sense of delight. Bees offer sweetness in exchange for pollination. As gardeners, we are united with the bees in our attention and connection to the sun. “We are all of the one great hive”.128 Slow down. Breathe.
We learn to do less. Aerate the soil, put compost, and other materials. Plant seeds or seedlings in the top layer. Trust in nature. “I need to be a patient growing soil as I am growing plants.”132 “Soil development takes time, fungi, water, soil, microbes and more time”. 133 Dance with the flow over time.
We developed some sort of PERMACULTURE in our front garden. “We become co-creators with the plants, cultivating life together.”137 Plant Guild = Central plant and group of interconnected plants. Our experience has been of not knowing. “Any tree can become the Bodhi tree, under which Siddhartha Gautama – the Buddha – gained enlightenment”. 140 Listen to what the plants are telling us.
Though we don’t have real seasons, I enjoy the harvest. It can happen at any moment during the year. In some cases the harvest has to do with time to mature, in other cases, it has to do with raining. For different reasons (Dora, the birds, Marcolino, or la Flaca) we can have a surprise harvest. Accept being open and curious.
The two greenhouses that we built with PVC and plastic are tunnels of life. Right ground, right seeds, the right temperature, and good rainfall. Some cherry tomato plants rebirth. Suddenly a lulo appears. Stay inside and… listen to the stillness.
We and the garden grow together. “The wheel turns, and the mindful gardener knows to sit with whatever is right now, as well as welcome dreams… “in time the days of spring will come”. 159
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Actions:
• Supporting worms in our wormeries.
• Gratitude meditations
• Stay silent
o In the garden
o Under a tree
o While raining
o In the greenhouse
Mindful thoughts for Gardeners – Sowing sedes of awareness}
Leaping Hare Press, 2018, London
Very nice book. Short chapters with meaningful content for your own awareness, and… for your garden. Cultivating a garden means establishing an environment that is sending you messages all the time. Can I get them? Let´s explore it and we will see how complex the garden is. Particularly if the garden includes us as one of its components. We are in the garden and the garden is within us.
If I remember my own practice (Puerto Obaldía, Chía-1, Oxford, and Chía-2), I have kept all the time an open mind, a beginner's mind. Perhaps a new practice started during the last 5 years because of our interaction with other gardeners, with the SENA, the Mayor, and the CAR. I am learning all the time new tricks, but I need to dedicate time. Can we release from the need to achieve anything?
During the last 5 years, I have worked in understanding the performance of 10 of the biggest companies in the world. I have studied global reports written by very good researchers and I have understood some of their achievements and challenges. When I look into our garden I see promises and hopes = life concentrate. In many cases, you can “read” hidden instructions on how to get life. First of all, is to respect them.
If I see my surroundings I can see red grape seeds, which will not grow in Chía. If I move 30 steps into our garden… I am lost. It’s quite easy to see the seed packages and the plants that we got from Pablo and Ernie: purple dragon carrot, yellow courgettes, striped tomatoes Tigerella, Brussels sprouts, multicolored Swiss chard; cucamelon, blue borage, lime basil, Agastache, and mint. I can remember perfectly well where they are planted and how they have been growing. If I go into our shed and look into the seedbox, I can see other varieties of chard, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, and several types of kale. Well, all of this is under “control”. But, if I look further into the garden I can see how the birds are interacting and how they plant lulos and uchuvas wherever they want.
Something similar happens when I go into our kitchen and see all the seeds that are part of our food: sunflower, wheat, quinoa, Brazilian nuts. If I go out from La Costanza, here in Colombia and all over Latin America, I can see the communities of Campesinos and indigenous people keeping their seeds bank. This is a historic event.
In a very slow process, I am discovering our relationship with the soil. Do I feel the scent that many of its parts are sending? It’s evident that I can get just a few signals and that I need to develop a deeper relationship. “We pray: grow” (25), and we are dancing to live. Our compost is beautiful, but
I don’t know well how “adding compost, manure, minerals, and other amendments feeds the network of bacteria, fungi, nematodes an earthworms”. 26 As Katie James’s aunt would sing: when our journey is finished, we will go back to the soil. I want to go back to a garden.
Earthworms are part of the soil. We have tried to grow earthworms. It is relatively easy. We have seen the process done by one of our neighbors, and it is great to see how he is using worms, horse manure, and rainwater. It is important to plant a significant amount of worms, in order to get compost in a very slow process. The investment is relatively high. In our case, after considering several variables, it becomes easier to buy compost from our neighbor. As a result, “the earth contains fewer toxins and more available nutrients” 31. “An earthworm is a meditation on transformation, but also on how transformation needs to happen in its own just-right time” 32.
Our roots are grounded with those other friends who garden. It can be here or there.Yes, “when you pull up a root, many of these finer threads break off and remain in the soil to decay, adding organic matter”.36 Let’s allow ourselves to keep rooted and grounded.
We are inviting photosynthesis all the time: give and take. Be like a plant for a moment and keep more balance. Let’s express our light.
What to do with weeds? Are they good or bad? We can be sure that they are and will be part of the garden. Let’s see what we have and try to know their role in the garden-web. Let’s move forward from the point of acceptance.
Repurposing is ecological and turns our garden into a masterpiece of innovation. “The garden is a long conversation between the land and the gardener”.66 Use of our own materials, using vines and bamboo.
Plants are adept at intelligent processes. Do plants try to communicate with us?72 We become part of the garden itself and see plant perspectives. “I am filled with respect. I am curious and open. I feel gratitude”. 75 “What are you grateful for today?”.79 “Notice how your energy has shifted simply by feeling gratitude”. 81
I have to see how to go with the flow: trimming, products, chicken poo out of the coop. “In the garden we work with natural rules, things we cannot rush or control”. 85
Our sense of community: let’s see how to have more stone soups! Coming together in a love of green and growing things. Online connections, strengthening the whole world.
Let’s try to develop permaculture in order to get a balanced environment, so that rain will help the whole to bring life. What kind of rain do we love? Rain is an invitation for mindfulness. 116 Be present while raining. “Can you feel more moisture in the air? You are breathing in water from some other place on Earth”. 117
Every garden is a prayer. Hope is always there and we plant anyway. “I grasp on to the hope that the garden provides me, and commit to the change and the growth that needs to happen.”123
The hum of a bee around a flower is magic: joyful sense of delight. Bees offer sweetness in exchange for pollination. As gardeners, we are united with the bees in our attention and connection to the sun. “We are all of the one great hive”.128 Slow down. Breathe.
We learn to do less. Aerate the soil, put compost, and other materials. Plant seeds or seedlings in the top layer. Trust in nature. “I need to be a patient growing soil as I am growing plants.”132 “Soil development takes time, fungi, water, soil, microbes and more time”. 133 Dance with the flow over time.
We developed some sort of PERMACULTURE in our front garden. “We become co-creators with the plants, cultivating life together.”137 Plant Guild = Central plant and group of interconnected plants. Our experience has been of not knowing. “Any tree can become the Bodhi tree, under which Siddhartha Gautama – the Buddha – gained enlightenment”. 140 Listen to what the plants are telling us.
Though we don’t have real seasons, I enjoy the harvest. It can happen at any moment during the year. In some cases the harvest has to do with time to mature, in other cases, it has to do with raining. For different reasons (Dora, the birds, Marcolino, or la Flaca) we can have a surprise harvest. Accept being open and curious.
The two greenhouses that we built with PVC and plastic are tunnels of life. Right ground, right seeds, the right temperature, and good rainfall. Some cherry tomato plants rebirth. Suddenly a lulo appears. Stay inside and… listen to the stillness.
We and the garden grow together. “The wheel turns, and the mindful gardener knows to sit with whatever is right now, as well as welcome dreams… “in time the days of spring will come”. 159
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Actions:
• Supporting worms in our wormeries.
• Gratitude meditations
• Stay silent
o In the garden
o Under a tree
o While raining
o In the greenhouse
November 30, 2023
Just lovely!
So grounding to read and it made me want to be in the garden. I loved Danaan’s analogies, comparing life in the garden - of the plants, insects and fungi - and of our own lives and how we choose to live it.
Some gardening science, but made completely easy! I thoroughly enjoyed reading in so much depth (in a mindful, emotional way, not a knowledge way) about how gardening nurtures us in all these wonderful ways and how being immersed in nature reminds us that we are a part of nature too.
Can’t fault it. Danaan left absolutely nothing to be desired. Exactly what I picked up this book for. Loved it!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
So grounding to read and it made me want to be in the garden. I loved Danaan’s analogies, comparing life in the garden - of the plants, insects and fungi - and of our own lives and how we choose to live it.
Some gardening science, but made completely easy! I thoroughly enjoyed reading in so much depth (in a mindful, emotional way, not a knowledge way) about how gardening nurtures us in all these wonderful ways and how being immersed in nature reminds us that we are a part of nature too.
Can’t fault it. Danaan left absolutely nothing to be desired. Exactly what I picked up this book for. Loved it!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
February 11, 2018
This is a wonderful collection of short meditations and thoughtful insights into keeping the earth green and healthy through gardening. Easy to read it is also beautifully illustrated. Perfect book for anyone who loves getting their hands into the soil and bringing forth a plant or flower.
September 3, 2021
Reflections and lessons learned:
“Everything a plant needs to reach first down into the darkness and then upwards towards the light is held safe in the hard containment of the seed coat”
Seasons, weather and science all related back down to the soil… lovely stuff. I read this whilst lying in a small garden on an IKEA gym matt on a decking covered astroturf - not particularly natural but it’s the setting that makes me smile on a regular basis - the tended to plants in pots, the weeds (great insight to this) that need monitoring and regular clearing, the small changes that happen no matter what. A wonderful series and a great subject.
“Everything a plant needs to reach first down into the darkness and then upwards towards the light is held safe in the hard containment of the seed coat”
Seasons, weather and science all related back down to the soil… lovely stuff. I read this whilst lying in a small garden on an IKEA gym matt on a decking covered astroturf - not particularly natural but it’s the setting that makes me smile on a regular basis - the tended to plants in pots, the weeds (great insight to this) that need monitoring and regular clearing, the small changes that happen no matter what. A wonderful series and a great subject.
November 16, 2020
I started reading this right before gardening this season. It always filled my cup and made me realize why I’ve connected with gardening in the first place. I read a chapter daily and then things got busy and just now returned to it which was perfect timing because the last chapters are about the garden in the winter. Although it sounded repetitive at times, the lessons I found here were uplifting. I see myself reading this annually as a reminder of the power of nature.
August 5, 2021
I like to read the short chapters before going to sleep, my first 'Mindful Thoughts' book was 'Mindful Thoughts for Walker: Footnotes on the zen path'; also gorgeous.
I usually borrow books from the library. These I bought. Ogling 'Mindful Thoughts for Artists : Finding flow & creating calm' next :D
I usually borrow books from the library. These I bought. Ogling 'Mindful Thoughts for Artists : Finding flow & creating calm' next :D
November 16, 2018
Love this little book. Being a gardener it helps me connect to why I love gardening and started my garden services business. Kaitiaki (taking care) of nature.
January 12, 2022
A reminder that we need to be close to nature 2 unwind and get our hands dirty in the process which makes us really feel connected to the earth.
June 17, 2023
This little book makes you fall in love with gardening all over again.
April 2, 2018
I enjoyed the illustrations in this one more so than the text, which I find sort of states in that kind of New Age-y way what is fairly obvious to most gardeners about the benefits and pleasure of the gardening. That said, it might make a nice little gift book for the right gardener. Or help sustain am imaginative reader-gardener through the winter months.
I read a copy of #MindfulToughtsforGardeners from the publisher via #NetGalley.
I read a copy of #MindfulToughtsforGardeners from the publisher via #NetGalley.
March 6, 2018
Gardening as a form of meditation and spirituality. Deep in its own special way, this book has not to be read only by gardeners, but as I am not a gardener myself, I think I missed something.
Il giardinaggio come forma di meditazione e di spiritualitá. Profondo in un suo modo speciale, questo libro non deve essere letto per forza ed unicamente da giardinieri, ma siccome io non lo sono, ho avuto la netta sensazione di perdermi qualcosa.
THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!
Il giardinaggio come forma di meditazione e di spiritualitá. Profondo in un suo modo speciale, questo libro non deve essere letto per forza ed unicamente da giardinieri, ma siccome io non lo sono, ho avuto la netta sensazione di perdermi qualcosa.
THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews