Social Innovation Park (SIP) embarked our very first Virtual Mindful Farming Course from November 2 to December 15, 2021. This 7-session Virtual Mindful Farming course was designed by SIP Academy to cultivate a positive mindset shift by guiding individuals to connect with nature through the practice of mindfulness and urban edible gardening, where it aims to help participants to integrate the practice of mindfulness into one’s daily lives using urban edible gardening as a medium.
SIP’s Virtual Mindful Farming Course, which is supported by the National Silver Academy, introduces to participants the concept and practices of mindfulness and how one can integrate the practice into their daily lives. Our Mindfulness Facilitator Anh Le, who has had over ten years of experience in Mindfulness based education, helped participants to be more mindful of their self, body and thoughts through various mindfulness meditation techniques, where participants bring to the hands-on activity of gardening with a renewed sense of focus, awareness and attention.
With the mindfulness practice setting the tone of the course and at the start of each session, the urban edible gardening portion offered not only the theory but also the hands-on practicum where mindfulness could be practised. William, SIP’s chief farmer from SEED, was the other facilitator for the programme and an urban edible gardening specialist, where he shared the ABCs of edible gardening and journeyed with the participants on their edible gardening, helping the participants clear their doubts and questions along the way. Each participant started the mindful farming journey with a box full of farming supplies needed for the course. During their mindful farming journey, participants planted Basil, Baby Bok Choy and Microgreens in the comforts of their own home, where they also enjoyed the seeds of joy with their harvest.
The blend of mindfulness and urban edible gardening knowledge and practicum, was experienced by the participants as a “mindful farming journey”- where the experience had also drawn parallel to experiences of life, where one needs to learn to focus on the moment and manage various emotions that may arise out of the gardening journey (joy, disappointment, sadness, frustration etc.).
Overall, the seven sessions went well, with positive feedback from the participants of our first virtual run. Thank you to all the participants and our facilitators for participating in our Virtual Mindful Farming Course. We hope to bring you more Mindful Farming Course, be it virtual or face-to-face, in the near future. Stay tuned to our social media platforms or sign up to our newsletter for more updates on our SIP’s Academy front!
Join us in creating a more mindful, inclusive and sustainable world!
Note: The sessions were supported by National Silver Academy. The Council for Third Age, C3A is the administrator of National Silver Academy (NSA) and the Silver Volunteer Fund (SVF), as part of the initiatives under the Action Plan for Successful Ageing.
