Dicovery: Healing Environments

Healing Environments

Designs to Nurture the Spirit

Victoria Stone, M.P.H., Allied A.S.I.D.

Finding ways to Support and nurture our spirits is something more and more of us are exploring today. There is a growing desire to cultivate a sense of the sacred in our everyday lives. In fact, a major design publication recently asked five hundred of its readers what they considered the finer things in life and was surprised to find that 82 percent said that a quiet place for meditation or spiritual contemplation was not a luxury but a necessity. It seems that in our modern-day culture the emphasis is on doing rather than being. There is often little in our environment that supports and encourages being quiet and spending time with ourselves on a deeper level.

The physical environments we design and build reflect our values and attitudes about the world in which we live and powerfully influence the way we experience our lives. Designers can play a significant role in enhancing people's lives by creating environments that not only support the body but the mind and spirit as well. This is particularly true when it comes to health Care design. Facing a serious or life-threatening illness is frequently a time when people feel a need to go inward. They begin a journey to rind meaning and purpose in their experience as well as the courage they need along the way. Unfortunately, many of our health care environments offer little support in this area.

The institutional environments found in many health care settings today reflect traditional medicine's emphasis on technology and the role it plays in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. While both science and technology have made significant Contributions to medical care today, their influence on health care environments has resulted in hospitals and clinics that are designed for procedures rather than people. These are environments that, for the most part, neglect the human side of health care experience. Fortunately, there is much change taking place in health care today, and health care environments are beginning to be designed to reflect this change.

One of these changes is that we are beginning to see a growing interest in a more integrated or holistic approach to medical care. This is an approach which not only recognizes physical needs but emotional and spiritual needs as well. Alternative or complementary therapies such as acupuncture, Reiki and mindfulness meditation are all based on the belief that the patient is a partner in the healing process and that healing is about creating balance in our bodies and in our lives.

As health care design changes to meet the emerging needs of a more integrated health care system, health care designs are changing as well. It is time to explore beyond function and aesthetics and to consider how design can support our spirits and help empower us to reconnect with our own inner source of healing.

Perhaps the most significant element in designing for the spirit is nature. Natural materials, images and sounds resonate within us on a very deep level that can promote a sense of well-being and enhance the healing process. In all my designs, I make an effort to use as many natural materials such as wood and stone as possible, as well as to bring nature indoors with plants and water elements.

The rapid pace and complexity of modern life has distanced us from nature and its cycles which support and nurture our spirit. One of the big lessons for all of us to learn, particularly when going through a health crisis, is about embracing change. Nature is an important teacher in this area. When we have an opportunity to pause and reflect on the seasons and cycles, we are reminded that change is a natural process of life. Springtime doesn't last forever. Winter comes and we have to deal with a harsher climate. Facing a serious illness requires embracing the moment and staying open to the rebirth or renewal which is possible in another phase or cycle. Nature helps us focus in the present moment and reminds us that we too are part of the cycle of life.

Honoring nature is something I try to bring to all my designs. In the renovation of the meditation chapel at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, nature including its healing properties was the inspiration for the entire design. Nature's relationship to healing is an ancient and universal concept. The Egyptians painted murals and scenes of nature in their temples of healing to promote vitality and help sustain their patients' interest in life. The murals in the meditation room serve much the same purpose. On the altar table is a vase where flowers or vegetation can be placed and changed with the season. I can always remember that it was spring when I finished this project because the photograph shows cherry blossoms on the altar table.

I recently had the opportunity to design the Institute for Health and Healing's new Health and Healing Clinic in San Francisco. This clinic is one of the first in the country to integrate contemporary medicine with complementary and alternative Care. It takes an East/West perspective in terms of its treatments, and so I used this as the inspiration for my design.

I placed an antique Japanese tansu behind the reception desk to express the soul of the clinic and its connection to ancient Eastern traditions from which many of the clinic's complementary therapies originate. It seems to me that many of our health care environments have a rather sterile feeling with ill their new furnishings and finishes. Something old has a history and reminds us of our history. It puts our lives in a context of family and community. Flower vases on the walls in a narrow hallway bring life to a very confined space and again provide an opportunity to honor the seasons and cycles in the interior environment. A finger labyrinth, which is used as a relaxation and focusing tool, hangs on the wall above a mini-health resource library. Information is empowering, and the library enables patients and families to learn more about complementary therapies before or after their appointment.

When designing to support the inner life, it is necessary to approach design from a perspective we may not have considered before, Designing to support and nurture the spirit means creating a symbolic environment. We not only consider how something functions, or what it looks like, but the meaning it expresses to people on both conscious and unconscious levels.

In the renovation of the meditation chapel, I was fortunate to have a round room with which to work. The circle is a symbol of unity and wholeness and is a sacred shape in many traditional cultures. We feel different in a round room without corners; the energy flows more gently. Another symbolic image that I used in the chapel in both the mural and altar table designs was the tree, an ancient and universal symbol of life. With its branches reaching up toward the sky and its roots growing deep into the ground, it spans the two worlds of heaven and earth. It reminds us of where we have come from and where we are going.

As a health educator and a designer, I was very excited to have the opportunity to design and install the first labyrinth walk in a medical center. The labyrinth walk is not only a design that nurtures the spirit, it is health promoting activity as well. The labyrinth is an ancient pattern found in cultures throughout the world and is a universal image of the path of life. Unlike a maze, the labyrinth has one path to a center and the same path out. The labyrinth is a healing ritual in the form of a walking meditation that takes us on an inner journey. As we walk the path and quiet our minds, we become open to receiving insight, courage and understanding in facing life's challenges. Research is now demonstrating the benefits of spiritual faith and practice on health and well-being, however few tools have been available in health care setting to support this aspect of care. The labyrinth is just such a tool.

The labyrinth walk design at California Pacific Medical Center is a symbolic environment that communicates on both conscious and unconscious levels. The large round granite boulder at the front of the labyrinth provides relief from the angular, man-made concrete hospital building. Its round egg shape is a nurturing image which provides a welcoming feeling to patients and Visitors. It also speaks to ancient myths that told of stones as the dwelling places of the gods and spirits. It was believed that, if you prayed with intention while focusing on a stone, it would hold your prayer. The stone at the entrance to the labyrinth symbolically holds the prayers of all who walk the labyrinth. We all need to spend some time in environments that nurture our spirits, and riot just when we are sick. We need to take time for personal renewal each day to maintain our health and well-being. I was reminded of this one day when I was looking through the chapel's book of prayers and thoughts in the meditation chapel at California Pacific Medical Center and found this entry:

"I come here. I close my eyes. I imagine this place as the garden of serenity. I breathe (Jeep and slow as I listen to the water whispering to me. I could feel my aching body relaxing as time passes by. And now I am ready to go back to work - peaceful. I have rejuvenated myself."

Moments such as this reaffirm my belief that designers can be healers.

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