Communal spaces case study
The ‘Mindful Listening’ garden attends to the pressing concerns of the rising amount of individuals suffering from mental ill-health and seeks to reduce health inequalities.
The garden’s main features consists of a five step guided experience where individuals learn or get reminded of the importance of mindful listening. These steps act as easy to follow self-therapy to help strengthen relationships and to ultimately help reduce stress and anxiety.
Individuals who as a result of the garden become mindful listeners can help disseminate this skill into the wider society.
The garden’s experience is enhanced by a welcoming and calming natural environment open to the public of all ages and disabilities.
In addition, the garden contains an acoustically enhanced area that forms a place to help practice collective concessions. This space is open to interpretation, however, activities such as listening to music, comedy or stories are highly recommended as well as activities such as practising yoga or meditation as these have the potential to enlighten the mind too.
The entire garden serves as a place to look deeper into ourselves and to enhance the ability to listen to our inner voice whilst the natural setting is designed to create a soothing and calming environment to help to do so.
The concept is an outcome of interdisciplinary research and attends to social, economic and environmental sustainability.
The garden’s concept can be applied to various environments such as green spaces, gardens, schools, universities, hospitals, businesses, festivals and others as well as semi-open indoor spaces.
.jpeg?width=1200&name=IMG_1931%20(1).jpeg)
