The beginning of any piece of writing is always the hardest part for me. How do I connect what I am writing to an audience I have never met? Ironically, building connections is exactly the topic on which I am writing! All the effort and worry that goes into writing a meaningful piece reminds me of a lecture I heard by Li Fu, of Four Dragons Tai Chi.

I am grateful that I was able to hear Li Fu discuss the symbolism and connections of the animal forms in Xing Yi Quan from a Daoist perspective. What influenced me the most was her comparison between the Five Elements and the Twelve Animals of Xing Yi Quan. The Five Elements have a Generating Interaction and an Overcoming Interaction, but the Twelve Animals do not. She pointed out that animals such as the tiger and the turtle do not interact. In fact, the tiger, which is energetic and active, probably does not even notice the turtle, which is slower and contemplative. This realization hit me in a way that I did not expect.

As a gardener, I look to the plants and animals around me to help me connect to the wider world. I was weeding one of my raised beds and found a box turtle amongst my potato plants. I was surprised to see a turtle in my garden. I did not think that turtles would eat the potato plants, but I was confident they would eat what I considered pests. In addition to the practical aspect of having a pest eating turtle in my garden, this was also a good reminder that this was, in fact, not just my garden. It is not separate from the rest of the world and is shared by more beings than just me.

Much like the tiger in Li Fu’s story, I tend to rush through the day trying to accomplish as much as I can. I wonder how many turtles, both literal and metaphorical, that I have missed due to my constant hurry. How many opportunities have I missed to connect with people who move slower or spend more time in contemplation? This is what inspires me to use gardening to help students learn to slow down and connect with the people and the world around them.

In a recent blog post, I wrote about, and have excerpted below, how I use mindfulness in the garden to help students learn to focus. In that post, I used Mindful.org’s list of five ways we can include mindfulness into our day. That list includes these five steps:

Set aside some time.
Observe the present moment as it is.
Let your judgments roll by.
Return to observing the present moment as it is.
Be kind to your wandering mind.

As an educator and permaculture ambassador, I utilize these methods while working in the garden and teach it to K-12 students and teachers. Working in the garden can be exciting at first, but I have seen students become disinterested and lose focus, especially when it comes to weeding. Many teachers can relate to this same behavior happening inside their classrooms.

I use this lack of attention as a teaching moment, and set aside time (step #1 from above!) with the students to focus on weeding the classroom/school gardens. I have them focus on one square foot of the garden as the one for them to weed. No talking about an upcoming football game, no talking about a possible quiz, and definitely no talking about what they saw on Tiktok! Their focus is on the present moment (step #2 from above!) and on one specific part of the garden. We do not discuss grades nor classroom behavior, we only weed. And if one the students “accidentally” pulls a vegetable instead of a piece of grass, I do my best to maintain MY focus on my square foot of the garden! Negativity and judgement (step #3 from above!) is not allowed. After our allotted time is up, we take a moment to clean up and return our minds (step #4 from above!) to the larger school community. Closing this activity is important because it allows the students to acknowledge what they have accomplished and to take it with them back to their classrooms.

I have not mentioned #5 from above because it is not a step we conduct in the garden, it is one that occurs when the students return to their “normal” lives outside of the garden. Anecdotal evidence is suggesting at this point (empirical evidence to follow soon!) that focusing on weeding translates to the students utilizing those strategies to focus on classroom tasks and reduces classroom behavioral issues. Are they perfect? Not by any means, but it is important to remember that these are behaviors that take time to develop (and now we utilize #5 from above!) and are not learned during one session.

In my talk for Tedx Wilson Park 2021, I will discuss how a garden can help us to connect with each other and the world around us. Before and after the talk, please feel free to connect with me at the South Eastern Ecoliteracy Project, via LinkedIn, or Instagram!