Building a Mindful Garden in Solana Beach
I’m excited to announce that we’re creating a one-of-a-kind Mindful Garden at Skyline Elementary School in Solana Beach, CA for both students and the community to enjoy.
The Mindful Garden is a joint effort by Stacy Bostrom, the Solana Beach Junior Gardeners, the Flower Remedy, the Solana Beach PTA, the Seaweeders Garden Club, and the Skyline Social-Emotional Learning Team (school counselors, teachers and school psychologist).
Photo by Stacy Bostrom
The Garden Heals
It’s been a dream of mine to create a space where kids and adults alike can go to relax and connect with the earth. This beautiful space will combine gardening with sensory and mindful experiences.
Studies have found that gardening and mindfulness:
Increase focus, attention and self-control
Improve compassion and empathy
Improve academic performance
Improve confidence and motivation
Strengthen connections and community
Decrease anxiety, depression and stress
Improve overall well-being
Improve self-regulation
Image by Katie Hartman, Landscape Architect
The Vision
The new sensory mindful garden will include a meandering path with guided mindfulness practices surrounded by beautiful flowers, butterflies, whimsical elements and art.
A special outdoor “Restorative Circle” will provide a safe and natural space to share feelings and work through conflict. School counselors, therapists, teachers and administrators will utilize this space in bridging relationships and create healthy social-emotional practices for children.
The Mindful Garden will encourage all who enter to be connected to the present moment through nature and engage the senses, which will help self-regulation, calm emotions and overall well-being.
All of this will be placed within “The Moon Grove,” a fruit tree orchard in the center of Skyline Elementary School. The Mindful Garden will be open to the public during evenings and weekends.
“We envision that the Mindful Garden will be a space for children to connect to the present moment through nature. Teachers may bring their class for a break from the classroom and students can explore the mindfulness prompts (grounding, using their senses, etc.), which will help with self-regulation and overall well-being.
Students may also use the mindfulness garden as a way to calm strong emotions prior to using a conflict resolution process.
We are also excited that there are plans for a small section of the garden to be used for restorative circles. Being in a safe and comfortable environment is incredibly valuable when sharing feelings and working through conflict.”
- Jill Carter LMFT, School Counselor
- Jillian Owen PsyD, School Psychologist
- Lindsay Baca, 4th grade teacher and Mindful Movement Facilitator”
It’s All Happening!
The building of the Mindful Garden is happening over the next two months. If you would like to donate to help make this dream a reality and leave a lasting mark for generations of children and the Solana Beach community, please visit this link: https://www.solanabeachpta.org/?product=mindfulness-garden-fundraiser.
