Does my garden listen when I float people?

 By Diana Cheng, B.A.Sc., Certified Watsu® Practitioner

The Moment

There’s often a moment in a Watsu session where everything becomes ONE — the giver and receiver, the water, the air, the movement, and even the birds.

The Birds That Know

How would the birds know to sing synchronously to the rhythm of our movement? I truly cannot think of a scientific answer. But they do! And not just any bird, but so often the client tells me it’s their birds! It’s as if they are watching over us, and dancing with us.

The Visitors

Some days, it’s the everyday visitors, like the chickadees, the hummingbirds, and the crows. But then, how do I explain the eagles, and so often the one bird that belongs to a particular client?

A Higher Power at Play

These special visitors appear in the sky at just the right angle so that I can see them. It feels like a wink from some higher power, a sign, a synchronicity that simply cannot be by chance.

Being Fully Present

While you are being floated, I give you my whole presence. At the same time, I am in awe of what happens in my garden. I truly believe that the beauty of my garden, of nature itself, is what takes us back to our bodies. When people are traumatized, we leave our bodies because they are too painful to live in.

Awakening the Senses

But after a session, all our senses reopen. Colors are richer and sharper, like someone turned up the contrast button. The tea I serve tastes sweeter, even though there’s no sugar. And the mind becomes so, so clear. As if, for the first time in a long time, there’s space to actually see what needs to be seen.

Letting Go

I watch people finally let go—of tension, of old stories, of pains they’ve been gripping onto for far too long. It’s so transformative, as if they wake up to themselves again. The difference is so dramatic, yet the process is so gentle. Somehow, their answers to resolve their stress literally feel like the most obvious thing in the world to them.

The Role of Environment in Healing

I truly believe that in addition to my support, it is the frame, the environment that orchestrates this whole transformative inner journey. A journey where they become ready to live the way they want to live.

Creating an Even More Magical Garden

So here is my little desire to make my garden even more magical with an Artist Who Paints With Nature. I will be getting some help to make my garden even more magical with Paolo at www.greenbamboolandscaping.com

The Artist Who Paints With Nature

Paolo is not just a landscaper. He’s an artist. A fashion person from Italy, someone who once expressed people's beauty through fashion, and now he paints with plants and trees.

A Space for Transformation

I look forward to working with him to create an even more special and sacred place—one that nourishes, restores, and holds space for those seeking clarity and healing. A place where nature doesn’t just sit quietly in the background but actively supports the deep work of letting go, resetting, and coming home to oneself.