'Therapeutic landscape' experiences - redefining their relationship with the everyday.
Health & place May 1, 2022 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102796 via PubMed
Summary
Feelings of being removed from everyday life and connected to it are central to why green spaces feel therapeutic. This study used a phenomenological approach at Buddhist meditation retreats, walking groups, and conservation volunteering sites. It found that both removal and connection arise from everyday life itself—our identities and backgrounds—and coexist simultaneously, not as opposites.
Study at a glance
| Design | qualitative study |
|---|---|
| Population | participants at Buddhist meditation retreats, non-Buddhist walking groups, and conservation volunteering groups |
| Key finding | Feelings of removal from and connection to everyday life in therapeutic landscapes are both rooted in everyday life and coexist alongside each other. |
Abstract
Feelings of removal from, and connection to, everyday life, are central to much of the 'therapeutic landscapes' literature, and to understanding of what makes 'therapeutic landscapes' 'therapeutic'. This paper develops understanding of the relationship between the everyday and 'therapeutic landscape' experiences, by exploring the origins of feelings of removal and connection. Data collected through a phenomenological approach (fieldwork sites: Buddhist meditation retreats, and non-Buddhist walking groups and conservation volunteering groups), targeted at capturing highly detailed information, demonstrates that both feelings of removal from, and connection to, the everyday, are bound-up with the everyday itself, with who we are and where we come from, and moreover, that these feelings exist alongside one another.