Tag: meditation


You’ve built it. Now what? (Hint: programming!)

The creation of a community green space is usually the result of a healthy blend of advocacy, community engagement, planning, cross-disciplinary collaborations—and good dose of sweat equity. Nonprofits and foundations (like us!) invested in this movement have focused on furnishing the evidence—the science that underscores nature’s health benefits and supporting resources to help communities advocate…

Mind and Body in a Nearby Quiet Space

This post continues last week’s introduction to the health benefits of nature encounters. For greater detail and citations, please check out the new Nature Sacred Monograph “The Sacred and Nearby Nature in Cities”. We are approaching nearly 40 years of research about the linkages between nature experiences, human disease prevention, and health promotion. As more…

Reclaim Quiet, Civic Sacred Space

We are bombarded with sensory input everyday, all the time. Car horn blasts, background cell-phone conversations, car exhaust, and digital screens wherever our eyes may wander. Constant stimulation is harmful to health. Urban residents need community spaces that serve as buffers from the sights and sounds of a city; elevating health and well-being for all….

Where are you thankful?

Take a look around you. What do you appreciate about your space and place? Gratitude and positive mental states become easier with practiced meditation. Meditation and mindfulness provides innumerable benefits where ever you are.  In studies investigating benefits of mindfulness and meditation, the list continues to grow: Lowered heart rate, lowered blood pressure, improved metabolism, improved respiration, improved…

Mindfulness in Green Spaces

Each month in our Open Voices blog we share insight from leaders in our communities who are advancing what it means to have sacred, open green spaces in our cities. This October we share in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Urban green spaces provide opportunities to enjoy natural scenery, relax, sit quietly, commune with others,…

"A quiet place. My soul grows still. This, indeed, is a balm for the weary, a shelter for the beaten. I am so grateful for this sacred space. I am now renewed."

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