291: Jenny Peterson on Gardening for Wellness

291: Jenny Peterson on Gardening for Wellness.

Connecting with nature in gardens and farms to promote hope, joy and healing.

Jenny is an Austin, Texas-based garden designer with her own firm, J. Peterson Garden Design, as well as a writer, author and speaker. She specializes in designing, writing and speaking about gardens that enhance the quality of life, heal from the inside out, and help to create balance and wellness.

Don’t miss an episode! Click here to sign up for weekly podcast updates

She is a breast cancer survivor and the author of “The Cancer Survivor’s Garden Companion: Cultivating Hope, Healing & Joy in the Ground Beneath Your Feet” (St. Lynn’s Press 2016) and co-author of “Indoor Plant Décor: The Design Stylebook for Houseplants” (St. Lynn’s Press 2013).

In This Podcast:

It was after her cancer treatments and when she was feeling very low, that Jenny Peterson was encouraged to go into her outdoor space. The hope and healing she found during her recovery was enough that she now guides and encourages others to find their wellness through gardening and connecting with the natural world. Her experience has been a spring board to helping many others find their hope through the dark times.

Listen in and learn about:

Starting out wanting to be a therapist
How her life changed with the diagnosis and how she chose to handle the news
Gardening in Austin, Texas
Growing up in big cities and starting her urban farm just a few years ago
Why she calls her property an urban farm
Being on the chicken tours in Austin
The benefits of guided tours
The wellness aspects of gardens and farms, and how animals add to the emotional benefits
How each animal on the farm has their own job
The recovery that she went through and how her husband encouraged her to get back to the gardening
Why being outside helped her as she recovered and the difference it made in her healing
Some of the natural processes that happen to the body when connecting to the natural world
Wellness tips of the day that she includes in her vlogs on Facebook
The power of the brain and why positive thinking is not enough

As well as:

Her failure – Back when she dealt with anxiety and panic attacks she felt like a failure
Her success – Having her book win the Silver Medal Award from The Garden Writers Association (Greg calls out EPIC!)
Her drive – when she experiences the sweet spot of where her passion meets up with the world’s needs
Her advice – Do whatever you can in a healthy way to get the amount of sleep your mind and body needs