Restorative Gardening @big_inspiration_garden

4802 Lockwood Drive,Houston TX 77026

09 July, 2021

Description

Restorative Gardening @Big_Inspiration_Garden (a mentorship for youth 13-24) Inspired Learning Institute & Big Inspiration Garden present Restorative Gardening a mentorship program designed to provide a safe, supportive environment to practice restorative techniques for working through & managing grief, trauma and stress. This mentorship is open to youth ages 13-24. The ideal youth for this mentorship is a youth willing to spend 3 hours trying something new. This mentorship will be led by Domini Bryant, Executive Director & is designed to inspire youth to connect with nature in a way that they may not ever experienced in the past. Restorative Gardening requires WORK! Internal work & physical work in the garden. This is none negotiable as the entire premise of restorative gardening is to restore space internally and physically. We open with grounding practices, walking the garden, observing & documenting the condition of the environment the plants etc. We encourage youth to use social media and their phone cameras . The lesson here is to always start with self, observing, cleaning, grounding and preparing one self. Weeding: clearing out the clutter, eliminating the energy suckers & distractions. As we are weeding the youth are being challenged to reflect on those things they found distracting, draining or otherwise out of place in their life this week. Discussion break is done over garden harvest prepared food where the youth will get to taste the food from the garden , while engaging in a though provoking ice breaker. The youth will learn the significance of growing practices & how they relate to mental & physical growth & development. We will sample various infused waters & teas with herbs from the garden. Youth with learn how to use food to restore their youth vigor. Wrap up includes water the garden. Cleaning the tools & putting everything back up. Debriefing: We will clear the garden & pack up to discussion about what worked today & what can we let go of that is no longer serving us. Solo meditation in the garden for the last 10 minutes. We encourage youth to use this time to be still, be quiet & be observant.