HEALING HOUSE

Barbara Bannon Harwood (1997). The Healing House: How Living                                                            in the Right House Can Heal You                                                         Spiritually, Emotionally, and                                                                Physically.


Harwood is a builder, president of Enviro Custom Homes, and environmental activist. She writes from personal experience in living in homes, and as a business owner and activist. Harwood's aim is to provide affordable, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly homes that meet spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. The greatest obstacle to this aim is the bankers and builders that place economic gain over meeting homeowner's physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Her ideas of nearly three decades ago, are still relevant today. 

Some of the best ideas:

design homes with passive solar in mind, letting light in through the southern windows onto floor materials like tile that absorb the heat in the morning and gradually release it throughout the day with fruit trees outside the south-facing windows that allow full sun in the winter (as their leaves have fallen) and more shade in the summer when they are fully leafed.

design homes with the local winds in mind so that maximum airflow can cool down the home in the summer, and use cellulose insulation and clerestory windows to retain heat during the winter and cool the air in the summer. Add windbreaks of trees on the north side of the property to protect from winter winds and storms.

consider an aviary, skylights, and large windows to let the light in--humans need to connect with sunlight and air.

use greywater from the washing machine, sinks, and showers to water garden, plants, and trees in the home landscape...use rainwater from a metal roof caught in a rainbarrel or aquafir to water the garden.

consider using comfortable, durable, and natural materials to build the house.

choose a site for the house in a nonindustrialized area, low traffic, ample trees and wildlife, and friendly neighbors

investigate the history of the people that lived on the site and the surrounding neighborhood that you plan to live in...spiritually, the land and buildings contain all the memories of everything that happened there, and we can feel this on some level.

IThe single most important thing I do...is to spend time every day reconnecting in meditation with the force." (p. 259-260)...the force is Harwood's term for the divine, however we conceive it...i view the divine as our highest value that gives meaning and purpose to our lives...moreover, her method of meditation is to find a quiet place (preferably in nature, but inside surrounded by live plants also works), create an intent (e.g., ask a question), breath and stretch to relax, focus on the area behind the eyeballs and watch the images, observing the thoughts, for a half hour. 


For practice, design your dream house with some of the suggestions for connecting with air, water, and light...what would it take to build such a home and where (consider downsizing to make a lateral move), and where not possible, what things can you modify and/or add to your current home to create a more comfortable, sustainable, and healing place to live in 









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