Walking the Morikami Museum gardens can be relaxing.
Photo courtesy of Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens
By Linda Haase
The unexpected breast cancer diagnosis was traumatic enough. But when the treatment made Jaclyn Merens so ill she could no longer care for her beloved autistic adult son and had to put him in a group home, she was devastated. Then, she lost her job.
“I lost my identity. I was no longer a caretaker for my son. I didn’t have a job. I looked different. I felt different. I was in a very strange head space and it was not a good one,” says the 60-year-old Boca Raton resident.
Salvation, she says, came from a most unexpected place: the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, whose therapeutic walking program is designed to provide a peaceful experience in a nurturing environment that promotes well-being and resilience in the face of adversity.
The program is geared for those undergoing life changes, experiencing stress, depression or mental exhaustion, including cancer patients, caregivers and those grappling with substance-abuse issues.
The three-month program, offered in October, January and March, offers participants a place for quiet contemplation and self-reflection during 12 themed walks through the 16-acre gardens.
Participants are given a journal so they can record personal stories, feelings and observations. The themes, linked to specific spots along the 7/8-mile path, include awareness, forgiveness, trust, joy and fulfillment and are designed to elicit reflections on their lives.
“With each stop on the path I gained more insight into who I am and who I want to be. It helped me to reflect on the past and figure out the future,” Merens says about her experience. ”It helped me believe in myself and understand that everything happens for a reason. It took me to a place of acceptance.”
That’s exactly what the sessions are designed to do, explains Ruth McCaffrey, the program’s leader and associate professor at FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. Many cancer survivors have participated, she notes: “They are trying to make sense of their lives, to put the pieces of their life back together and this is a great place for reflection and peace.”
It has helped hundreds. “We have had people from all walks of life participate, including veterans with PTSD, bereavement groups, even caregivers who came as a way to renew themselves and gain a sense of peace in the stressful world of caregiving. A group of people with arthritis who were facing the loss of ability to function the way they used to said they could walk a little farther when they were here. They told me that they have a medicine chest filled with drugs, but they were looking for something to take away the pain without drugs and this helped them,” says McCaffrey. “I never realized how powerful this would be. It has been a life-changing experience for many people.”
The program began in 2008 after a study by the Morikami in collaboration with the Lynn College of Nursing showed the powerful effect of its healing gardens for older adults with mild to moderate depression.
“Gardens have proven to be effective in assisting persons to relax, distracting them from negative stimuli and generating positive thoughts, thereby improving mood,” McCaffrey wrote in a synopsis of the study. “The program is intended to foster reflection, reduce stress and manage feelings of sadness, alleviate symptoms of depression and provide an experience in a healing space to promote well-being and resilience when sad things happen.”
That’s the message Roger Ulrich, a leading researcher in healing gardens, has been endorsing for years.
“The reason healing gardens are places of refuge is because all humans are hard-wired to find nature not only engrossing, but soothing,” he said in a Center for Spirituality and Healing article. “We have a kind of biologically prepared disposition to respond favorably to nature because we evolved in nature.”
That’s exactly what John Andersen discovered when he went through the program with fellow veterans and therapists from the Veterans Administration Hospital.
“The counselors guided us and helped immensely. A lot of times we would start with meditation. When I began I was full of hate and anger. I had been miserable for years. But as time went on and we talked about each theme, I went from a miserable, unhappy person to a happy person.
“I was hesitant at first, but discovered that this really works,” admits Andersen, a 69-year-old West Palm Beach resident and Vietnam vet who has PTSD. “When we talked about awareness, it was important for me to be aware that I had a problem receiving help. I thought people were messed up, that the world was messed up, but what really was messed up was me.”
For Merens, the message was different, but just as important. “It allowed me to be kind to myself… That is what was so beautiful,” she says.
IF YOU GO
The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens offers two therapeutic walking programs.
They both include three meetings, a journal and an annual membership to the gardens.
The Morikami is at 4000 Morikami Park Road in Delray Beach.
The Stroll For Well-Being: Garden Walks at The Morikami is open to the public and costs $100; the Astellas Garden Walking Program is free to participants who are active members of not-for-profit counseling groups. Visit www.morikami.org/astellas. For information on The Stroll For Well-Being, visit morikami.org (click on workshops).
Linda Haase is a freelance writer on a quest to learn — and share — all she can about how to get and stay healthy. You can reach her at lindawrites76@gmail.com
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