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The Power of Plants
There are more things in heaven and earth,
Horatio, than are dreamt of in
your philosophy. Can you imagine a
planet without plants? A world without plants is like a sunset without color—stripped of its splendor and beauty. Being a tree person, I’ll admit I’ve never seen an unattractive plant or tree. They’re like the human aura, that colorful energy field enveloping the physical body. I’ve yet to see an aura without beauty. Flowering plants with their natural beauty and engaging aroma are an especially amazing work of nature. Even the prickly pear with its yellow blossoms and pear-shaped fruit is a magnificent creation to behold. Aside from its singular beauty and edible fruit, it speaks forcefully of independence and survival against all odds. From the climbing honeysuckle to the unassuming bitter weed, the foliage, flowers, and smell of plants are splendid testaments to nature’s power and beauty. Increasingly, plants across cultures have taken on important spiritual significance as reflected by the meditation or faith garden. Given the beauty, energy, and serenity of plants, imagine the good things that can happen when plants and people come together in a tranquil garden. What better place for a world peace conference than a peaceful garden setting! As a psychologist, I discovered early in my practice the therapeutic value of plants. In both indoor and outdoor settings, plants can enrich the therapeutic process, whether for individuals, couples, or groups. Plants by their sheer presence can lift the spirit and literally disperse healthful energy. In the therapeutic setting, they are like co-therapists that specialize in restoration and fulfillment. The outdoor garden setting is especially effective for such quality-of-life goals as quitting smoking, managing weight, staying fit, or remaining young. For quitting smoking, simply taking a few moments to breathe fresh outside air deeply into the lungs can help extinguish the need to inhale smoke. Following that with slow, rhythmic breathing of fresh air accompanied by positive affirmations of yourself as a non-smoker can break the smoking habit once and for all. Periodically reminding oneself that breathing in fresh air is far more healthful and satisfyi For losing weight, the sights, sounds and smells of the outdoor setting when accompanied by imagery of yourself weighing the exact amount of your stated goal can empower you not only to lose weight, but to keep it off. You can strengthen your resolve as needed by simply walking among plants and observing their beauty while reaffirming your success in achieving your goal. In the educational setting, plants can open totally new pathways for growth and self-discovery. Learning specialists know that the nature of the environment can profoundly influence the rate of learning while promoting retention of the material learned. For my students, I’ve found that outdoor class sessions, even if only sporadic, tend to stimulate interest and participation, regardless of the subject matter. Beyond that, the outdoor instructional setting can dramatically facilitate the positive transfer of learning, in that what is learned in the outdoor setting is much more readily applied to other life situations. As in academia, the outdoor setting has special implications for the health professions. Many enlightened physicians and psychologists alike now recognize the importance of the health-related resources found in nature, including the indoor and outdoor meditation garden. Doctor/patient interactions do not take place in a vacuum—they are strongly influenced by the setting in which they occur. Taking time to wheel patients outside the hospital room and interact with them at eye level in a garden setting can dramatically increase the patient’s feelings of worth while improving the effectiveness of treatment. For the terminally ill, it can enrich the quality of life in its ending stages. Hopefully, physicians of the future will increasingly utilize nature’s healing resources, including the meditation garden, not only for patients and their families, but for themselves as well.
Excerpted from the book Connecting to the Power of Nature by Joe Slate, PhD © 2009 Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd. All rights reserved, used by permission and with the best wishes of the publisher. www.llewellyn.com. Joe H. Slate, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Athens State University. The U.S. Army and the Parapsychology Foundation of New York have funded his lab projects in parapsychology. His research led to the establishment of the Parapsychology Research Foundation. Dr. Slate has appeared on several radio and television shows, including Strange Universe and Sightings.
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ng than inhaling smoke can add to the pleasure of being a nonsmoker.