Imagining Your Inner Garden
Hi Online Therapy Community!
I hope you are all well :) We are going to work on an exercise that gets you thinking about your life right now.
Picture a garden that represents your inner world. Notice what’s growing there. Are there blooming flowers, tall trees, or empty soil? Any weeds or overgrown areas? Are there signs of drought or places overflowing with life? Notice the weather, the colours, and how it feels to be there. What draws your attention? What’s been neglected? What’s flourishing and growing beautifully?
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Describe what your inner garden looks and feels like.
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What parts of your garden are flourishing? What do they represent in your life?
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Are there areas that feel neglected or overgrown? What might those symbolise?
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What do you wish you could plant, prune, or nourish?
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Who or what has helped your garden grow?
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What might self-care or healing look like in your garden?
I think you all know by now that I am a huge plant lover and nature in general and being in my garden has brought me lots of joy this summer. I hope you enjoy the exercise. 🌻
Photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash
@LisaMeighanMScGMBPsS
Wow 💝💝💝
Hello there! That's a beautiful and insightful exercise. Thinking about our inner world as a garden is a powerful way to see our emotional and mental state
My Inner Garden ..feels like a mix of cultivated and wild spaces. It's a large, slightly overgrown country garden with a strong sense of history. There are a lot of established trees and a few messy flowerbeds that are a little past their peak. The sun is shining, but there are also a lot of shadows.
(◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
Flourishing Areas ..in my imagination 😅My garden's most flourishing area is a large, sturdy oak tree with deep roots. It represents my core values and sense of self. It's strong and resilient, having weathered many storms, and it provides a lot of shade for the rest of the garden. The flowers around its base, a patch of vibrant purple coneflowers, symbolize my relationships with my family and closest friends. They are beautiful, resilient, and always come back year after year.
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Neglected Areas....The most neglected area is a patch of dense, thorny bushes in the corner. This represents my creative passions, like writing and painting. They're still there, but they've become tangled and overgrown because I haven't dedicated the time or energy to tend to them. It feels overwhelming to even approach them right now. There's also a small, dry patch of soil near the fence, which symbolizes my physical health. It's not completely barren, but it needs more water and care.
(*˘︶˘*).｡*♡
Hopes for the Garden😇..I'd love to prune the thorny bushes and clear the space around them, planting some new, easy-to-care-for flowers like lavender or sunflowers to encourage my creativity again. I'd also like to install a small irrigation system for the dry patch, symbolizing a commitment to better habits for my physical well-being.
(◍•ᴗ•◍)✧*。
Help for the Garden. .. oak tree and coneflowers represent the help my garden has received. My family and friends have always been a source of strength and beauty, reminding me of what's truly important and providing me with the support I need to grow. A wise old stone bench under the oak tree represents the wisdom I've gained over the years from mentors and therapists who have helped me navigate difficult times.
( ◜‿◝ )♡
Self-Care in the Garden...For me, self-care in this garden would look like regular, intentional acts. It's not about a complete overhaul, but about small, consistent efforts. It would be spending a few minutes each day watering the dry patch, slowly trimming back the thorny bushes, or simply sitting on the stone bench and appreciating the beauty that's already there. It's a reminder that healing isn't a race ,it's a patient and loving process of tending to what's already there and creating a little more space for new growth.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful exercise
Note :I enjoy it 😊 all the plant I mentioned it is in my imagination 🤣 😄 actually you can say it's in my wishlist 😄
I like plants too but unfortunately I don't have garden but maybe in future 😁
