"In this beautiful, inspiring, and practical book we are invited to look deeply at the landscape around us and create sacred respites from our busy worlds." -Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist and author
We all need a personal sanctuary. A place where we can be in harmony with the natural world and nurture our bodies, minds, and souls. And this sanctuary doesn't have to be a far-away destination-it can be in your own backyard. In Creating Sanctuary, natural living expert Jessi Bloom taps into multiple sources of traditional plant wisdom to help you find a deeper connection to the outdoor space you already have-no matter the size. You will learn how to design a healing space, how to harness the power of 50 sacred plants, and how to create recipes and rituals that soothe and calm. Hands-on, inspiring, and packed with gorgeous photography, Creating Sanctuary will help you find new ways to revitalize your life.
In this uplifting guide, bestselling author Jessi Bloom inspires you to turn any outdoor space, from a small balcony to a large garden, into a personal sanctuary for health and wellness. Jessi Bloom is a best-selling author, award-winning ecological landscape designer, and speaker. She owns N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Services, based in the Pacific Northwest, which is known as an innovator and leader in the field of permaculture, sustainable landscape design, construction, and land management. Her work has been recognized by government agencies and industry organizations and makes headlines in national media. She lives near Seattle with her two sons on their permaculture homestead, which is full of functional gardens and rescue animals. Introduction
We all need sanctuary. We need a place where we can feel safe, one that rejuvenates and refreshes us, somewhere we feel nourished and loved. Many of us look for that sweet spot in the wildness of a distant national forest or park, the aisles of a high-priced grocery store, or a trendy exercise class. Often we look to connect to nature anywhere that has more plants than people, more wildlife than domesticated or controlled life. It may be our habit to get into a car and drive somewhere in hopes of becoming ourselves again, especially after a bad day or during a rough period.
We acknowledge that when we eat better and exercise we feel good, and that the connections we find in nature help to restore our spirit, but what we overlook is how much of that we can find right in our own backyards. All of us can use our gardens, the earth, and spaces we inhabit as our personal sanctuary. This book is about creating sanctuary, every day, wherever we find ourselves.
The busyness of our lives can often distract us from making time to find relaxation or peace, to ground ourselves, and to really evaluate where we are heading. There is cultural pressure to do more, to have more, and to push ourselves too hard. We tell ourselves that the tasks and to-do lists we create are more important than self-care and quiet reflection. We often take care of others' needs before our own, at the expense of our health: body, mind, and spirit. We see hardship and challenge all around us, in the news, on social media, in our own neighborhoods. Stress mounts until it consumes us, and then Western medicine encourages us to treat illness with drugs that mask the symptoms so we can resume the same routine that caused the stress in the first place.
How do we change? How do we get out of this rut and practice self-care regularly? How do we effectively create a way of living that allows us to heal, feel restored, and find peace within ourselves? We can do this by incorporating what is good for us into our daily routines and shaping the environments we find ourselves in every day so they inspire us too.
I believe that nature is the best healer. When we remember that we are nature and when we take our place there as one species among countless other species, we feel natur
