Beauty + Meditation + Inner Balance = Healing

By Leslie McGuire, managing editor

 

The shade structure needed to be an inspirational form as well as having the ability to stand up to the wind. The leaf form proved to be perfect. It was also designed to slope upward which allowed for a change in the heights of the planters and planted beds. That, in turn, created a sense of terrain and separation by having a structured topography. The leaves facing into the garden are a different size and shape than those facing into the city and Forest Park, creating two separate zones.

For a therapeutic garden to work, the space itself needs to feel as if it?EUR??,,????'???s at rest. There must be no unresolved tension, only soothing curves leading your eye through the landscape in a way that creates a kind of clarity while maintaining a sense of mystery. In much the same manner as Japanese Gardens, one gets a hint of what?EUR??,,????'???s beyond but must take the journey to discover the full experience. It becomes a landscape of discovery, which takes patient?EUR??,,????'???s mind off stressful situations.

The west wall has circular window seats allowing patients to see the sky, the clouds and expansive views of Forest Park in the distance. This also solves several other problems. Not wanting to enclose the entire space with fencing, and faced with harsh winds coming out of the west, the wall creates a welcome windbreak or shield. But most important, being able to see the sky and watch the clouds in an enclosed and protected space connects patients and their families to the immense circle of life, of which they are an integral part.

The Subject of Beauty: Postulates

• There is in every human being the capability of responding to the environment with awe. This is as much of an emotional response, such as to love, fascination, anger, etc., but it is triggered by realized beauty or perfection.The awe response not only adds to the quality of life, but is important to healthy brain functioning by creating a form of mental concentration equal to a meditative state or bliss and allowing other areas of the brain to rest.Quality of life and good mental health among individuals is important to the success of the human community and among the legitimate ?EUR??,,????'??health, safety and welfare?EUR??,,????'?? concerns of our society.

Conclusion

Therefore, it is in the public?EUR??,,????'???s interest to foster the awe response by protecting and nurturing the creation of all manner of things that are beautiful.

A fence is normally placed as close to the perimeter edge of roof gardens as possible to maximize the garden space. To ameliorate the impression of being in a cage, the fence was designed with shallow zigs and zags, and was placed inside the perimeter to allow for planting on both sides. As the plantings grow in, the cage effect will be lessened.

The Meditative State

Meditation quiets your mind. It is a way of simply sitting quietly and allowing your mind to empty of all content, either by focusing on something, such as a sound, or your breathing, or an idea, or else by just emptying the mind and allowing things to come in and go back out again.?EUR??,,????'??+Michael Lerner, Ph.D., Founder and President of Commonweal, a Fellow at the Fetzer Institute, and a Policy Fellow of the Institute of Health Policy Services at the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco.

The step stones, set in a stream of sterilized water, are for physical therapy. A small section is a little bit more challenging and not used by patients as much as by children in the family. The fish pond has gold fish, however, since the hospital was concerned about infectious disease, a bridge separates the sterile water from the biological water?EUR??,,????'??+making it difficult for little hands to reach.

The Olson Family Garden is an 8,000-square foot, 8th floor rooftop therapeutic garden for Children?EUR??,,????'???s Hospital at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri. LASN did an article about building this garden in 2002, which centered more on the construction and access issues. This follow-up article goes more into the psychological and neurobiological issues the garden raises. Created to enhance the healing environment, the garden provides a place for children and their families to experience their connection to nature while at the hospital. Through a series of workshops led by Landscape Architect Herb Schaal of Edaw, Fort Collins, the following objectives were agreed upon:

Because of the very limited space, organization of the garden was of utmost importance. There are a variety of spatial types, as well as a spatial hierarchy. There are small spaces for rest, contemplation, solace and reflection. Then there are more semi private spaces where small groups can gather and talk and not feel invaded. The third space is more of a public open social area. That space provides order to the whole of the garden so it feels proportionally and formally at rest. ?EUR??,,????'??The spatial hierarchy requires the designer to understand how to make spaces beautiful?EUR??,,????'??+both the whole garden and the individual rooms have to have their own feeling and quality,?EUR??,,????'?? says Craig Russell of EDAW. ?EUR??,,????'??Because you don?EUR??,,????'???t see everything at once, there is always something to discover.?EUR??,,????'??

 

The most important thing about the spatial delineation of the garden was the way selecting the right plant materials changed the quality of light brought to the space and how that affects the mood. Smaller trees with multi-stemmed branching structures were selected to partially enclose the secluded spaces. The leaves are then closer to the patient and create dappled back lighting. Golden rain tree has a fruit that creates seed pods. They rattle in the wind, as do the leaves, creating yet another soothing sound.

A Tree is the Voice Box of the Universe

?EUR??,,????'??Just as the physical world of rainbows, lightning and stars was not understood in the centuries before modern physics and astronomy, so also the more elusive and complex aspects of the human mind are not understood at present, even with the impressive technology we have at our command.?EUR??,,????'???EUR??,,????'??+David Felten, M.D., Ph.D. Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, winner of the MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship, 1983, Associate Editor of the journal, ?EUR??,,????'??Brain, Behavior and Immunity.?EUR??,,????'??*

It is very important to offer vistas out into the landscapes beyond. Tests have been done on the effect of green, which shows what a positive, healthy effect that color has on people. However, you can also choose plants for their sound qualities. In grove of aspen you pick up on the sounds they make. A tree is the voice box of the universe.

Red buds were a good choice, along with smaller varieties of maples and golden raintree, which has seed pods that rattle in the wind. But in addition to large canopy trees, smaller trees add dynamic lighting and sense of intimacy while rustling in the wind. Ornamental grasses were chosen for their swishing sound.

Celestial themed paving has been set in the circle wall corner?EUR??,,????'??+this is the ?EUR??,,????'??loud corner?EUR??,,????'?? farthest from the secluded areas?EUR??,,????'??+showing constellations, the big and little dippers, planets, as well as an ?EUR??,,????'??Allometric?EUR??,,????'?? sun dial, which compensates for angle and latitude by moving in a North/South direction depending on the month. They have developed a computer program, which sets the sun dial automatically. A picture shows people where to stand to cast the correct shadow and this creates something for families to talk about.

Overall, they tried to select trees and other plants that were varied in texture, some with large branches, some twisted, but all expressing vitality in the landscape. The more texture one has, the more the place feels alive. Seeing other living things relaxes people, so they also tried to choose plants for the perimeter that birds would like. People hear the bird sounds and that contributes to the ambience. Also, plants that had certain scents were chosen as well, to engage as many senses as possible.

Beauty, Awe and Chemistry

?EUR??,,????'??Although feelings and thoughts seem intangible, the brain is active any time we feel or think anything. That activity can then lead to a cascade of changes in the body. The brain, as you know, regulates the heart, the gastrointestinal system, the lungs, and probably the immune system, and each change in the brain can lead to a sequence of changes throughout the body that can have an impact on health."?EUR??,,????'??+Margaret Kemeny, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. *

Building soothing, curved forms that lacked tension was necessary to create a healing place. Hospital walls and organization are so sterile, rigid and hard edged that entering the garden is entering a totally different place. It is an escape from an oppressive, overbearing and cold interior?EUR??,,????'??+a welcome change for people when they?EUR??,,????'???re supposed to be healing.

?EUR??,,????'??It is the sense of awe,?EUR??,,????'?? says Herb Schaal, ?EUR??,,????'??that creates the most powerful experience. The stronger the affect of that experience, the stronger the pairing of beauty and healing will be. When one experiences awe, there is such an indelible imprint on the mind, something chemical happens.

The more powerful the affect, the more powerful the connection to healing.?EUR??,,????'?? Looking at green space makes people feel more alive.

With the telescope promontory looking out onto Forest Park, one of largest public open spaces in the country is available. That large-scale landscape gives one the sense that there?EUR??,,????'???s something bigger out there. You are part of something bigger. Kids can look at people playing through the telescopes. They can see the world beyond the hospital walls.

A 1500-pound granite sphere floats on a film of pressurized sterile water and is an interactive place where parents and children can do things together. Since many of the patients come from other countries, a map of the world is inscribed on the granite with a star marking St. Louis, Missouri. Pushing the ball is not only a form of gentle physical therapy, it gives a sense of empowerment to patients, making them feel strong rather than weak.

?EUR??,,????'??Healing landscapes should celebrate seasonal change and celebrate the cycle of life. The sundial, with its solstice markers, sunrise and sunset patterns gives a sense of the broader celestial picture,?EUR??,,????'?? says Craig Russell. ?EUR??,,????'??The water features bring with them the broader terrestrial picture. The key was not to make the water features have a gushing sound. You want ones that have more of a trickle, which brings a sense of tranquility.

Motion and Empowerment

?EUR??,,????'??Studies suggest that a patient who can look out the window during recovery from some specific types of surgery stays there a shorter time than the patient who can?EUR??,,????'???t look out a window. The environmental circumstances of the hospital make a difference in how well a patient recovers.?EUR??,,????'???EUR??,,????'??+David Felten, M,D., Ph.D.

In health care settings it is important to bring patients out and let them be active. ?EUR??,,????'??Anyone who has ever had surgery knows how upsetting it is when the doctor says you have to start walking when you?EUR??,,????'???re still in a great deal of pain,?EUR??,,????'?? says Herb Shaal. ?EUR??,,????'??By providing different levels of activity in the garden space, patients can do some easy physical therapy in a beautiful setting making it a much less painful and experience. The granite ball water feature is active and engaging but not overwhelming.?EUR??,,????'??

The entire walkway system is made of soft surfacing so children can walk in their hospital slippers and know that any falls will be cushioned. But the surfacing also creates a sense of quietness. In the secluded areas of the garden, the rubber is three-inches thick instead of one, making it possible to feel the difference?EUR??,,????'??+much like walking into the sanctuary of a church. Trickling water also masks sounds and makes these areas even more private.

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The idea of strolling through the gardens and feeling or knowing if you fall, it will be on a soft surface makes patients feel safe. Having seat walls and a lot of benches so people can sit down plus movable seating and the ability to customize arrangements based on the needs of a group lends a sense of flexibility rather than rigidity. The spaces are also designed so they can accommodate hospital beds.

Compassion and Connection

?EUR??,,????'??According to preliminary reports, the effects of mental training, such as simple mindfulness practice on a regular basis or the deliberate cultivation of compassion as developed in Buddhism in bringing about observable changes in the human brain correlated to positive mental states, can be measured.?EUR??,,????'???EUR??,,????'??+Tenan Gyatsu, the Dalai Lama

The other activity is the idea of gardening. ?EUR??,,????'??Having patients participate with caring for the garden makes them feel as if they are contributing to something living,?EUR??,,????'?? says Herb Schaal. ?EUR??,,????'??Nurturing is a really important concept. When you?EUR??,,????'???re sick you are denied the ability to nurture. A pet or plant helps satisfy that requirement.?EUR??,,????'??

The landscape should also be well maintained because a well cared for garden suggests that the patients will be cared for well, too. This attitude permeates the whole facility. One of the keys to a successful healing garden is having a full time caretaker. Gary Wangler has a lot of personal investment in the garden. ?EUR??,,????'??Having a rooftop garden of this magnitude is wonderful. Funded by donors, it helps families get a place of solitude and retreat, take a break and heal the mind and the soul,?EUR??,,????'?? says Wangler. ?EUR??,,????'??Even the staff uses it as a stress reduction spot.?EUR??,,????'??

Reverend Hal Morse feels the garden is very important, but equally important is the person who takes care of that garden. ?EUR??,,????'??Gary Wangler is not only good with plants, he?EUR??,,????'???s also very good with the children. Gary organizes musical events, dance groups, science programs and celestial observations for the children to participate in, which is extremely important.

Learn to Move Like the Clouds

?EUR??,,????'??Actually, this t?EUR??,,????'???ai chi ch?EUR??,,????'???uan exercise is twenty-three centuries old. ?EUR??,,????'??Learn to move like the clouds, eternally transforming without the appearance of change.?EUR??,,????'??? T?EUR??,,????'???ai chi ch?EUR??,,????'???uan exercises are supposed to be like nature, and the person exercising is trying to connect with nature through movement.?EUR??,,????'?? ?EUR??,,????'??+Dr. David Eisenberg, M.D., Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, staff at Harvard Medical School, speaks Chinese and is Director of exchange activities involving Harvard Medical College, the Peking Union Medical College and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. *

The problem, of course, is how can you learn to move like a cloud if you never watch a cloud move. That?EUR??,,????'???s what the sky and rooftop views provide. The view west to Forest Park is magnificent and the garden plan responds with a dramatic overlook and telescopes. Other views of ugly rooftops and construction are completely screened off with plantings and walls with circular peepholes to control views.

The view to the sky is celebrated with a Celestial Plaza that connects users to both the day and night sky, through an interactive sundial and the moon phases, constellations and planets represented in the Plaza paving.

The relationship to the building is handled by the use of similar colors in the walls and by managing visibility to and from adjacent rooms with plantings. The entry hallway was reconstructed along with the garden, and was designed in collaboration with the landscape architects to provide a graceful transition using similar colors, form and textures.

Nurturing the Whole Child

?EUR??,,????'??In real life, the brain and the immune system use so many of the same molecules to communicate with each other that we?EUR??,,????'???re beginning to see that perhaps the brain is not simply just ?EUR??,,????'??up there?EUR??,,????'?? connected by nerves to the rest of the body, It?EUR??,,????'???s a much more dynamic process?EUR??,,????'???we?EUR??,,????'???re discovering, for example, that cells of the immune system are constantly filtering through the brain and can actually lodge there.?EUR??,,????'???EUR??,,????'??+Candace Pert, Visiting Professor at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University and a consultant in Peptide Research in Rockville, Md.

Olson is as much about families as about patients. They also need care because they are also going through a trauma. One of the garden spaces is designed to be secluded so families can meet there and have some privacy. Hospital Chaplain, Reverend Hal Morse tells of why he suggested private space and a ?EUR??,,????'??patch of grass?EUR??,,????'??. There was a family whose dying baby had never been out of the hospital. They wanted the baby to feel grass and see the sky at least once. They had a picnic on the grass and then went back downstairs to intensive care where the baby died. Now a family can sit in a quiet place and let their child die in their arms, undisturbed. So there are little cul-de-sac areas that families can use. For those families, the death is a better event. Families heal by finding a way to tell their story in a graceful and integrated manner, and it is a better healing if it takes place in the garden.

This garden touches the lives of thousands of patients and their families each year, providing a break in the otherwise sterile hospital environment. It is a place to connect with the natural world, to touch water, smell a fragrant rose, see a butterfly and to hear leaves rustle. It is a nurturing, healthful, hopeful, living environment to lift the spirits and to find solace. It is a place with many interesting elements to stimulate compassionate conversation. According to Helen Orem, nationally renowned consultant on health care environments, ?EUR??,,????'??The Olson Family Garden is the best and most innovative in the nation and beautifully solves the problem of children?EUR??,,????'???s isolation in pediatric units.?EUR??,,????'??

When the garden opened in 2000, the consultants and the hospital personnel knew they needed to find a new kind of horticulturist?EUR??,,????'??+a therapeutic horticulturist who not only knows how to take care of plantings, but who knows about interacting with people, patients and patient?EUR??,,????'???s families as well as potential donors. Since he took the position, Gary Wangler has made many changes to the way these gardens are normally managed.

There are musical events held for the children in the garden. Every year he adds different new perennials and puts up decorations. In the fall he brings in large pumpkins and scarecrows with smiley faces. He dresses up for Christmas. At Easter, the Child Life Center has a Easter egg hunt. They believe it is important to bring the celebrations to the children.

The Gift of Smiles

"Bliss (ananda) is a quality of pure consciousness. In a famous definition of health from the ayurvedic text Charaka Samhit??EUR??,,??, a healthy person is defined as someone whose mind is full of bliss. Bliss results from a state of balance in mind and body?EUR??,,????'??? Laughter is healing when it is a spontaneous expression of bliss.?EUR??,,????'???EUR??,,????'??+Maharishi Ayurveda

Twice a year for the last six years, Gary Wangler, purchases 100 painted lady butterfly larvae in kits with vials, food and lids. Over the first week the kids get to see the larvae grow over an inch long. By the end of the second week the larvae attach to the lid and form their chrysalis. During the last week the lid is peeled off and they are released into the ?EUR??,,????'??butterfly pavilion?EUR??,,????'?? in the garden.

One evening, Herb Schaal, wanting to make the children laugh, was on the roof planting a huge smiley face in the grass with blooming crocus bulbs. It was late and quite dark when a lady came by with her little boy propped up with pillows in a wagon, his head swathed in bandages. Their conversation was brought to a halt by the noise of a Flight to Life helicopter coming in for a landing on the hospital?EUR??,,????'???s rooftop helipad. She smiled, and pointed up, saying how glad she was to be there?EUR??,,????'??+ ?EUR??,,????'??That was us last night.?EUR??,,????'??That?EUR??,,????'???s when Schaal realized that his crocus smiley face would be the first part of the hospital children and their families would see as they were flown in for treatment.

Smiling is, in fact, good for you.?EUR??,,????'??+Jon Kabat-Zinn, Founder and Director of the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Preventative and Behavioral Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.*

* Quoted from ?EUR??,,????'??Healing and the Mind?EUR??,,????'?? by Bill Moyers. Copyright ???????(C) 1993 by Public Affairs Television, Inc. and David Grubin Productions, Inc. Published by Doubleday.

Sweet Potato and Snap Dragons

Verbena

Rhododendron and Fritillaria

Apricot tulips

Using plantings to attract living things then led to the idea of color. Color was chosen to create themed blocks, never singular blocks. Blending oranges, yellows and pinks in gradations of shade and hue makes the space feel more alive.