What, you may wonder, has gardening got to do with meditation? Well, I here will share with you my thoughts of how I think the two are related.

I have loved gardening ever since I was a little girl. But there were times during my life when I couldn’t do gardening because of time constraints and not actually having a garden - those times were during my high school and university days. I feel privileged that I am able to do gardening again.

My present garden was full of weeds and bushes when I first moved here, but I was determined to transform it into a garden to be proud of. It was extremely hard work clearing the unsightly brambles, stinging nettles and deep-rooted bushes that had been there for many years.

After each spell of gardening I was exhausted but I looked forward to seeing a garden that would soon blossom with different types of flowers that we would be able to enjoy in the future. We also dug a pond, planted water lillies and forget-me-nots. Sometimes I would spend more than eight hours some days digging out the bushes, planting flowers, watering and fertilising.

I noticed that when gardening my mind focuses only on that particular activity and I don’t think of anything else; this induces a sort of meditation. Part of the meditation is to concentrate on breathing, cultivating positive thoughts and clearing unnecessary illusions or thoughts out of my mind. Gardening is also about clearing weeds and cultivating and healthy plants.

I use to have a headache problem during weekends but since starting gardening I don’t seem to have this problem much anymore - it must be the soothing effect of gardening and the closeness to nature that helps.

I also weed very often in order to keep the garden clear of plants that could be invasive and overrun the garden giving it an unsightly appearance. It’s the same with meditation - it requires consistent practise to deter invasive thoughts that will distract a healthy mind.

Gardening and meditation are both mind relaxing activities that induce a positive attitude and also compliment each other - both activities train our minds to focus and relax. From my point of view, one is cultivating beautiful flowers and the other is cultivating a beautiful heart.