GARDENFIT

Culinary inventor and chef James Gop invented Dinner Theater, creating dramatic open-fire cooking experiences that turn foraged food into imaginatively presented meals that reflect nature’s bounty. He takes us on a journey beyond the dinner plate, providing a new-found appreciation for our environment with a focus on sustainability. James’ lower back pain is reduced by using his hips correctly.

Bunny Williams, a legend in home and garden design, brings her style principle outdoors by creating garden rooms and walkways that flow naturally, just as a well-designed home. We encounter a parterre, formal gardens and spectacular mixed borders in the garden rooms surrounding her house. With a special “kickstand” technique, she learns how to bend in her garden for strong hips and good balance.

Marion Brenner, an award-winning photographer of gardens and architecture, believes the best photographs make you feel you’re in that space. We get to discover how her photography style informs her enchanting gardens, which are filled with unique plants and create a picture-perfect color feast for the eyes. Her chest tightness is relieved, and posture improved with a warmup and cooldown series.

Leslie Martin, an accomplished jazz musician and classical pianist, is also an avid gardener. His quarter-acre plot in the heart of New Orleans features English cottage-style gardening and Japanese traditional accents. He built waterfalls and bridges, and planted trees to create a rhythmic perimeter around his property. His overworked hands were relieved with pebble massages and stretches.

Designer and entrepreneur Meridith Baer’s passion for gardening and love of potted plants led to her creation of the real estate practice of “home staging.” We’ll see how she transformed her “forever home,” moving 250 truckloads of dirt to create a tiered garden oasis with fruit trees and peaceful seating areas. Meridith learns to resolve hip pain through stretches and exercises.

Cynthia Meyers is a renowned flautist and principal piccolo player in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She hears the sounds of nature in symphonies. Using native plants, she makes havens for birds, bees and butterflies in her garden retreat. She focuses on untamed environments, turning a grass front yard into a flower garden. Her shoulder and knee pain are eased through better body alignment.

Jose Alvarez (D.O.P. A.) is celebrated for his bright paintings featuring natural materials such as porcupine quills and feathers on mica canvases. His work is collected by museums across the country. His two-acre tropical garden provides inspiration and material for his art and reflects his deep connection with the natural world. Shoulder and arm pain are reduced with three simple movements.

Visual artist Paula Hayes is known for her sculptures, installation art and landscape design, but she is perhaps best known for her living terrariums of organically shaped, handblown glass. These large and small-scale ecosystems explore relationships between plants and people’s connection to nature. Paula learns self-massage to loosen hand muscles and build forearm strength to protect her wrists.

Jenny Elliott and her husband Luke Franco transitioned from trained musicians into flower farmers and designers, growing their farm from 6 to 40 acres, and planting more than 300,000 annuals each year by hand! These organic flowers are used in stunning wedding arrangements. Planting and harvesting by hand take a toll on Jenny’s back; relief from repetitive bending comes from spinal stretches.

Environmental artist Patrick Dougherty is known for his life-sized sculptures built using only sticks and saplings and exhibited around the world. We visit one of these, along with his home, surrounded by stick fences, stone archways, paths and walls--all of which he built himself. Patrick is given a series of movements to increase flexibility in the ankle and restore function to the lower legs.

Alice Waters created the farm-to-table movement and pioneered California cuisine. Her restaurant, Chez Panisse, is famous for changing how food is sourced, prepared and presented. She also founded the Edible Schoolyard Project, bringing education to kids through school gardens and kitchens. Alice learns a simple routine to restore shoulder movement and reduce stress while harvesting fruit trees.

Frances Palmer, renowned ceramicist, avid gardener and photographer, selects flowers from her extensive cutting gardens to pair with her creations of functional vessels made of white porcelain, terracotta, stoneware and earthenware. She captures these stunning compositions with photography for her socials. Long hours in the garden and studio create posture issues, which she learns how to correct.