A fresh and effective approach
There’s been lots of talk about ‘mindfulness’ in recent years, in relation to our mental health, and it’s a subject that’s far too expansive and interesting for just one blog post. But, at this time of year, when many people struggle with short days and long nights, we thought it worth touching upon. In fact, we’re such fans of mindfulness here at Blooming Green, that we have created a new workshop to offer our customers a little taster.
Customers often say: ‘Gosh, you must have such good mental health, working at a place like this.’ There’s no denying that we love what we do. But there are still stresses associated with work – the weather for starters – and we’re not immune to other challenges that life throws our way. Most people will agree that the last couple of years have thrown up new challenges on top of the old. So, coping strategies are essential.
A break from emails
For me, if I have a heap of emails to get through and by brain is starting to hurt, there is nothing better than getting out on to the flower plot and picking flowers for half an hour. In fact, even when we have hundreds of stems to pick, there’s still something slightly hypnotic and calming about the process.
Enjoying the journey
And, in a nutshell, that’s a little of what mindfulness is about… the process and the experience, rather than worrying about the end result or what has been before. Or, as described by one of the masters of mindfulness, Mark Williams, ‘Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally to things as they are.’ Bek and her team, when propagating, planting and weeding also have plenty of opportunity to put this into practice. Add in the benefits of working with plants, flowers and nature and we’ve got some pretty cool opportunities for mindfulness at our finger tips.
Give it a try
With this in mind, we have developed a new workshop called ‘A Mindful Morning with Dried Flowers’ where we put aside a whole morning to creativity, relaxed activity and learning – followed by a leisurely lunch. After lunch, you’ll take home a beautiful glass dome arrangement of dried flowers as well as some useful mindfulness techniques… We’re really looking forward to hosting this workshop and hope that it will be the start of a new side to our workshops – where self-care and ‘wellness’ are key. It’s always been a large part of what we do, and our workshops, but now it has a name… we hope you can join us.