Mindful Gardner: What are the pillars?

Ending this discussion here.

 

One of his live streams in the past few weeks he listed all of them. It was somewhere deep in the live stream so sorry I can't point you to which one or what minute it was!

I think he originally had the 8 pillars and then joining with Sam he now has the 9th which I believe is the Shadow.

 

I agree Cactus. It’s hard to get all his concepts! Maybe together, we can all decipher him. His methods do seem very compelling.

Here’s what I’ve gotten to add to yours:

Here, I think he means have a daily schedule. (When he was recovering, he wasn’t working, but he would go to the store and do different tasks.) Don’t just go through your day haphazardly—because it’s not good for you mentally and for healing. This coincides with Claire Weekes, who says that you need to be occupied each day. Not overly occupied, but have a routine with something to do. I can vouch for this working. I used to sit around and wallow in TMS land. Now I have a schedule and a little checklist, where I check off my activities and chores.(I think I got this idea from Helmut.) Since I started doing that, I drastically improved mentally and my adrenaline started going down. (I don’t think Helmut did any TMS “work”—only visualizing an hour in the morning, taking a walk, and challenging his symptoms. He didn’t do any healing programs or journaling.)

Add to your day—Challenging symptoms: this is a biggie for him. Each day you want to do something slightly scary, and tell your brain that it’s safe. You are actually reprogramming your brain when you’re doing this. He did it deliberately every day.

I think he means you’re the CEO of your life. Have a board meeting with yourself and report how things are going and where you need to make changes. Be accountable to yourself.

From Sam and Helmut, I got the impression here that you allow in order to let the energy from trauma and grief to discharge. If you suppress these things, then they stay in your body. You’re trying to allow them to move through to complete the process they never got to do, which would have prevented TMS in the first place. (Peter Levine)

I think here his goal is to get you as much dopamine as possible, to counterbalance your adrenaline. He’s very big on turning off the alarm signals caused by perceived danger (Dan Buglio), and reducing adrenaline (Claire Weekes).

Here’s my favorite Helmut video. It explains a lot.
https://www.youtube.com/live/nlVNyd1XNMw?si=OpBfBHHXGCv28stg

 

Here’s a video on the 9 pillars
https://www.youtube.com/live/s_0fPmpIiCc?si=De13el3dmKoFVZqi

 

I asked perplexity.ai and this is what it came up with (I hope it may help)...

"The nine pillars of recovery according to The Mindful Gardener are as follows:

1. Visuals – Using visuals to stimulate dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins for about an hour a day. Visuals serve as a meeting with yourself to keep on track and maintain motivation.
2. Routine – Building and sticking to a consistent daily routine to avoid rumination and help regulate the brain’s survival response.
3. Movement in Nature – Engaging in physical activity outdoors to lower the stress baseline and increase well-being.
4. Lifting Your Mood – Activities that actively elevate mood, contributing to lowering the baseline state of survival.
5. Allowing and Engaging – Practicing acceptance and allowing energy or emotions to flow without resistance, which lowers internal stress and helps regulate the nervous system.
6. Consistent Daily Practice – Commitment to never missing a day of these practices to retrain the brain and body toward a new baseline of ease and health.
7. Self-Contract – Making a firm, 100% commitment contract with yourself to fully engage in the recovery process without reservation.
8. Not Micromanaging – Trusting the process and avoiding over-analysis or obsessive control of symptoms and thoughts, allowing natural healing.
9. Manifesting Your Life – Using these principles not only for symptom recovery but also for creating the life you want in business, relationships, and personal goals.

These pillars are geared toward reducing the "baseline" of survival stress in the body and mind, reshaping the nervous system from a state of dis-ease to rest, recovery, and well-being. They form a structured lifestyle program that requires dedication and daily effort for lasting change."

And it said this when I asked it about 'the shadow':

"In psychology, particularly in the work of Carl Jung, "the shadow" refers to the part of the unconscious mind that contains aspects of ourselves we repress or deny—traits, desires, impulses, and emotions we deem unacceptable or contrary to our conscious self-image.

Jung described the shadow as including repressed weaknesses, shortcomings, instincts, and even positive qualities that we either cannot accept or have been conditioned to hide (such as creativity, assertiveness, or affection). The less we acknowledge or engage with these parts of ourselves, the stronger and more problematic the shadow can become. If ignored, the shadow may be projected onto others, meaning we see in others the qualities we dislike or deny in ourselves.

Jung viewed integration of the shadow—consciously recognizing and accepting these hidden parts—as necessary for personal growth and self-knowledge. As he famously noted, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious”.

In summary, the shadow is the collection of hidden or denied aspects of the psyche, both negative and positive, that we need to acknowledge for authentic self-acceptance and psychological wholeness."

 

Helpful! Thanks, @BloodMoon!

 

As what it said was helpful, I thought I'd ask perplexity.ai about what Helmut actually says about 'the shadow'...

"Helmut, known as "the Mindful Gardener," speaks about the shadow as the parts of ourselves—often painful emotions or repressed experiences—that have been pushed into the unconscious and need to be gently allowed into conscious awareness for true healing. According to Helmut, healing and integration do not come from force or suppression but from "allowing": patiently witnessing whatever arises in the present moment, including uncomfortable emotions and shadow material, without judgment or the attempt to fix or expel them. He compares the mind to a mirror that simply reflects experiences, letting the "shadow" speak, be felt, and move through the body until coherence and balance naturally return. Attempting to rush or suppress these experiences only keeps them unresolved in the subconscious.

Helmut emphasizes that trauma and unexpressed emotions become frozen in the shadow, showing up as symptoms or emotional constriction until they are met with presence and self-led awareness. Integration of the shadow involves slowly allowing and "titrating" these experiences, giving them space in awareness so the nervous system can complete its process at its own pace. This approach mirrors Jungian psychology, where "making the unconscious conscious" is central to individuation and healing.

The process cannot be forced or intellectualized: true completion and integration happen in microdoses through gentle, self-compassionate attunement to what the body and mind need in the moment. Helmut’s approach aligns with modern trauma and nervous system theory, focusing on safety, non-forcing, and the natural wisdom of the body to heal once the shadow is allowed without interference.

In summary: Helmut says healing the shadow is about conscious, compassionate allowance of repressed emotional material—becoming the "mirror" that welcomes whatever arises, and trusting the natural process of integration rather than forcing outcomes."

It's becoming that I don't know what I would do without perplexity.ai! I use it to search for virtually everything .

 

How exactly do you manifest with allowing?

 

For me i think they are both trying too hard to grow their channel.

I have made my feelings known on sam from the start, she means well but the amount of videos she is posting which is pretty much the same thing said in different ways is just too confusing for the viewer or someone who wants to learn the simple way, she is very boring to listen to due to the words she uses. All she needed to do was post one video on the science of mind body work and how the human body works for people to understand but everyday there is usually 2 videos or more from her that are about 25-30 mins long and the vast majority of what she says is just complicated nonsense which puts me to sleep. If i want to learn about this work i want you to explain it in laymans terms to me so that i can understand the basics but its like working out a physics problem just listening to her.

Helmut is different, whilst he does over do the random voices at least he is trying to make it entertaining and explains it in much easier detail than what Sam does. I know he says that Sam does all the science side but if im chronically ill i don't give a crap about science i just want to know the quickest and best way for me to heal once i understand the concept.

This is why i prefer Dan, straight to the point, short videos daily to keep the mindset in the right place and he has plenty to go back to if you need reassurance on something.

What they say in 'Allowing' is just the same as Dan saying 'dont freak out and let it be'.

 

I’m getting some additional things on Allowing—mostly from Sam’s videos. She says your trauma is stored in your body. And your body is wise and wants to heal itself. It knows when you are strong enough to handle these emotions that got stored, so it releases them in increments you can tolerate. These are in the form of pain, depression, anxiety, etc. When you try to block these feelings, you thwart their purpose, which is to release. And if they get stuffed again, they will come back even stronger next time. So you witness them (as the Self, which is the strong eternal evolved You), and they dissipate and release the trauma that was stored in your body from traumatic events you never processed. And then you are one step closer to getting well.

Sam says that sometimes the release is in the form of tremors, spasms or shaking. (I get this a lot, especially at night.) But it can be any symptom, really.

You have a very big bucket that needs to be released, so it takes time. You ‘ll go through this process repeatedly, as part of the healing process. You can be happy, not sad, about pain. Because your mind is working to heal you.

Here’s a good Sam video that explains it;


This is a great Helmut video that explains it. I know people understand him better. But most of Sam’s videos talk about this.
https://www.youtube.com/live/7wlCm650j-A?si=eabXAFaxqrFUhPO8

For anyone who is familiar with Internal Family Systems therapy, it’s very similar. You are allowing that child part of you to grieve, basically. Think of your pain as you as a little child crying. You wouldn’t tell that child to stop. Or even be mad at it for crying. You’d let him or her cry it out while you hugged him. You would allow the child to cry. That’s the basic idea.

You can even take this one step further and ask the child what it’s sad about. (This has worked for me.) And, if you’re willing to hear, the child will tell you.

 

Cactus whilst i respect what you have posted, this whole forum is made from peoples opinions.

Dr Sarno had an opinion on the origins of chronic Pain and how to get rid of it,
Dan Buglio had an opinion on the origins of chronic Pain and how to get rid of it,
Helmut and Sam had an opinion on the origins of chronic Pain and how to get rid of it,
Tanner Murtagh had an opinion on the origins of chronic Pain and how to get rid of it,
Alan Gordon had an opinion on the origins of chronic Pain and how to get rid of it,
Steve Ozanovich had an opinion on the origins of chronic Pain and how to get rid of it,

See what im getting at, they all want you to achieve the end goal but some explain it better than others. We are all more than welcome to go with whatever fits you and helps you better understand it, the point i am making is that we dont need to overcomplicate it with science and the 8 pillars or any other program.

The long term goal is to heal your nervous system and your body in time will follow suit, there are many ways in which to do that which you can find all over the internet, curable apps, meditation, yoga, breathwortk, TRE, i will give you my viewpoint on the pillars helmut uses

1. Visuals – Using visuals to stimulate dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins for about an hour a day. Visuals serve as a meeting with yourself to keep on track and maintain motivation.

This goes against the idea of living your life, did you spend an hour a day before chronic pain visualising happiness?? I can guarentee most people do not, they envisage futures like their partner, marriage, kids etc

1. Routine – Building and sticking to a consistent daily routine to avoid rumination and help regulate the brain’s survival response.

The only routine you need to follow is not give into any fear about your pain or symptoms, period, you will naturally heal if you stop sending danger signals derived from fear.

1. Movement in Nature – Engaging in physical activity outdoors to lower the stress baseline and increase well-being.

This is a well known general approach to lower general anxiety or stress so nothing new, one i agree with.

1. Lifting Your Mood – Activities that actively elevate mood, contributing to lowering the baseline state of survival.

Postive mindset in general is good for you, whilst i get some people struggle with it the biggest lesson i learned as a kid even in a god awful situation there is usually a very small (even just 1%) of a positive outlook you can focus on.

1. Allowing and Engaging – Practicing acceptance and allowing energy or emotions to flow without resistance, which lowers internal stress and helps regulate the nervous system.

This goes back to not reacting in a negative way to your pain and symptoms and live your life day by day and it will get better!

1. Consistent Daily Practice – Commitment to never missing a day of these practices to retrain the brain and body toward a new baseline of ease and health.

Live life without fear about your pain or symptoms, this is makes it sound like your working 9-5

1. Self-Contract – Making a firm, 100% commitment contract with yourself to fully engage in the recovery process without reservation.

I agree with this one, once you understand it and agree it is what you are dealing with make the commitment

1. Not Micromanaging – Trusting the process and avoiding over-analysis or obsessive control of symptoms and thoughts, allowing natural healing.

Don't micromange but the other pillar says i need to do daily visuals and a routine?

1. Manifesting Your Life – Using these principles not only for symptom recovery but also for creating the life you want in business, relationships, and personal goals.

In general just have a positive mental attitude towards life rather than a negative one

For my work one of our training modules is to discuss human factors and stress and what it can do to people and we show them this video..



He nails it, i just wish a young me would've seen that instead of spending many a year worrying that people didnt like me or that i wasnt good enough etc.

 

@Fal
A lot of people are really excited about Helmut’s methods. I’m one! And we are just trying to sort out amongst ourselves all that it entails. I’m having the most success with it of any method I’ve tried so far. So, I’m going to disagree with your negative perspective of it. I don’t know if it’s really helpful for any of us to tear down any of the various healing methods. We’re all just on this pioneering road to discovery. Give everybody a chance to try it their way. Some people even do a mixture of a lot of methods. But the one thing we all need is HOPE— which is why I think it’s counter-productive to tear down any methods.

 

It's really up to the admins to tell people what and what not to post. The same way people can sing praises for a certain mindbody coach someone else should be able to say what they don't like about them. I am someone who needs a straight to the point science lecture which is why I don't accept what a lot of mindbody coaches say even though I'll listen to them. I much rather hear a short factual explanation of neural pathways getting stronger through myelination and weaker through nerve pruning than hear about the true self coming through your symptoms and working outside of the ego and yada yada yada.

 

As far as I see it, this thread is still open for further contributions and discussion at any time... and that being so, I wanted to post up the following for anyone who may still be interested in Helmut's 9 pillars now, but especially for anyone searching the forums for information about them in the future, particularly as he says that you only actually need to do one of them to become recovered (albeit he also advises that one's journey to losing mind/body symptoms would be very likely to be much slower).

In the video below, which is relatively short by his standards, Helmut lists his 9 pillars and chooses the one single pillar that he says "will get you there", i.e. eventually recovered. I believe he made this video before Sam Miller joined him on his Mindful Gardener channel on YouTube.

These are the 9 pillars as he lists and names them in the video:

1 Being aware of old behaviour patterns
2 Committing to the path
3 Preparation (he doesn't explain this in the video below but elsewhere he apparently says that this is laying down a solid, practical foundation for recovery, using clear planning, structure, and unshakeable commitment, so you're as equipped as possible to face whatever comes up in your healing process)
4 Visuals
5 Raising vibration
6 Exposure - going towards what you fear
7 Allow and engage - allowing the alarms and engaging in life
8 Movement / getting into nature
9 Routine, routine, routine

And the one pillar he says will get you recovered is: no 7 -- 'Allow and engage'. He says that's because technically it has a little bit of everything in it.

(This is what I've been doing in my own 'baby steps' approach way, making profound progress from being bedridden and housebound to being able to function pretty well by comparison, so personally I'm just going to stick with number 7 and not worry about the rest of the pillars.)




I asked perplexity.ai to summarise Helmut's 'allow and engage' and this is what it gathered from his videos (I had to take screenshots because copying and pasting came out as gobbledegook):

 

Learning curve for "allowing" is just massive. That combined with the fact you can do it for months without having no clue whether you are even making any progress, makes it such as frustrating thing.

Thats why it pisses me off greatly that there are very famous authors like Rhonda Byrne or Eckhart Tolle that basically imply you only need few big "allowings" to feel better. These kind of statements are very big slap to the face for very sick and traumatized individuals who need few million allows to feel better.

 

I guess at least with Helmut he doesn't imply that at all. He warns people that they're in for the long haul whether they do all of his 9 pillars or just the 'allow and engage' pillar (for which he has been criticised by some because it makes them feel despondent).

 

Yes i will give him his due he often says that it took him 3 years due to how many symptoms he had and its not going to just change overnight. He also questions whether the so called book cures have legitemately healed as its not as easy to just calm your nervous system unless it wasnt that bad to begin with.

 

When I first heard Helmut’s story (aka: the Mindful Gardener), it was on a Dan Buglio success story interview. He healed from 70 symptoms. Sheesh! That got my attention! I was riveted by his story.

Here’s that interview:

 

That’s too bad. I thought your post was really useful and would help a lot of people. I think a lot of us are intrigued by the Mindful Gardener’s approach and we’re trying to sort it out. Here’s something I posted today about some progress I made by following his approach: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/what-i’m-learning-lately.30136/#post-161829