Our Place- HeartSong Health In Community - a nonprofit naturopathic medical clinic

Natural Environments

HeartSong is located on four acres of woodland at the end of a private road in the small community of Putney, Vermont. Overlooking a pond which welcomes gray heron, ducks, tortoises, small fish, and frogs, it hosts a variety of local wild and domestic fauna such as cats, chipmunks and squirrels, birds, deer, and the occasional moose or bear.

Our building is a traditional post-and-beam structure, constructed from natural woods that harmonize with forest surroundings. Hardwood floors, exposed beams, and brick masonry connect visitors to the earth while cathedral ceilings, skylights and windows welcome the sky.

In 2012, a large medicinal herb garden -- Ganesh Gardens -- was created behind the facility, for both educational and medicinal purposes.

See Ganesh Gardens

Healing Spaces

Places and spaces where we live and work affect us in deep and fundamental ways. The presence of nature, the use of color, texture, shape, light and scent all contribute to our sense of well-being.

Open spaces at HeartSong invite quiet reflection and relaxation. Because artistic expression and creativity are essential aspects of well-being, handcrafted art, ceramics, metalwork, fabrics and weaving, are incorporated into every room. The aroma and taste of Ayurvedic herbal teas encourage the mind to relax and the heart to open. Music, art, and furnishings from the around the world inspire the imagination and remind us of both our diversity and our interconnectedness. Living plants evoke our natural capacity to grow and heal.

Vastu Shastra

Vastra Shastra, literally "the science (shastra) of dwellings", is the ancient Hindu science of architecture and design that originated in India with its two sister sciences - Ayurveda and Yoga. While Ayurveda and Yoga focus on the inner and outer "self" (mind and body), Vastu Shastra is concerned with the physical spaces that we inhabit. It teaches us how to use nature to create environments that soothe and harmonize our nervous systems because nature reminds us of one great truth: everything that exists is divine. We have used the basic principles of vastra shastra to organize the spaces at HeartSong as much as possible.

Vastu (pronounced VAASTU) refers to the dwellings of humans and spirit (gods). Vastu shastra helps people learn how to benefit from the five elements of the universe -- earth, air, fire, water, ether -- through the way they design and organize their work and living environments. It recognizes that we can embrace ourselves more fully and become one with nature by organizing the places and spaces where we live and work according to certain natural principles, and by infusing them with natural elements and personally meaningful objects.

Nature embodies the governing principle of holism - that everything is interconnected, that a change in one part of the system evokes shifts in others - and reminds us not only of the diversity of the world but also our own personal internal diversity. We are many things, depending upon the context in which we find ourselves. Vastu shastra allows us to honor both our diversity and our wholeness.

Although vastu shastra is a complete and complex science of environments, certain simple basic principles can be applied in any physical setting to increase its harmonizing effects upon you and the people with whom you share it:

Bring nature into your physical environments whenever possible: plants, water, stone, wood, flowers.
Celebrate your unique identity by personalizing your spaces: surround yourself with things that touch your heart or represent people or experiences that have enriched your life.
Create small islands of serenity, called "zones of tranquility", by dedicating certain areas to the display of objects that have special meaning to you,
Leave the center of each room -- Brahmasthan (the most powerful and holy area of a room) -- open and free of obstructing objects,
Eliminate unnecessary clutter and furniture (less is more): keep only things that you actually use or that have meaning for you or someone in your family.
Choose artwork that is life-affirming; avoid dark and gloomy pictures and photographs.
Use natural fabrics and objects as much as you can for daily use and for decorative accent.
Use natural scents to infuse your spaces with odors that are calming to you.
Cherish your personal spaces by keeping them clean and neat; let your love for the spaces and places that you occupy infuse your heart when you organize and maintain them.
Use color to invite the qualities that you want. Kathleen Cox describes the influence of color from a Vastu Shastra perspective in her book The Power of Vastu Living: Welcoming Your Soul Into Your Home and Workplace (2002):

Red motivates and increases passion and vitality, giving us power and courage that strengthens our convictions, confidence and will.
Orange increases generosity, sensitivity and compassion, building our energy and zest for life.
Yellow stimulates mind and intellect, allowing wisdom and clarity to emerge naturally, increasing our inner strength and self-esteem.
Green creates harmony and balance, inviting feelings of inner calm and stimulating growth.
Blue inspires harmony, serenity and calms emotions, promoting integrity, trust, and faith.
Indigo, the color of HeartSong's website, strengthens intuition and imagination, helping us turn inward to create inner balance so we can connect to all of existence.
Violet evokes self-respect and enhances creativity and inspiration, providing us with the inner strength and wisdom to be mindful of our thoughts and actions.

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Resource Conservation

HeartSong manages physical space to reduce its ecological footprint as much as possible. Rather than build a new structure on pristine land, we renovated an existing building, preserving its original integrity and the land around it for future generations to enjoy. Vegetable and herb gardens are organic; ongoing road maintenance protects the surrounding land from flooding and landslides. A state-of-the-art septic mound system filters water through multiple layers of sand to purify it before it reaches ground water. Natural slate, wood, and earth tone tiles are used throughout the facility. Interior walls are painted in eco-friendly earth tones using organic or low-VOC paint. Exposed wood is protected with natural oil or nontoxic water-based urethane. The building exterior, including signage, is natural wood.

See Sustainable Business Practices

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Heartsong

Hear what people have to say about our location:

The location of HeartSong is perfect because it's on the end of a quiet dirt road far removed from "life". It provides a peaceful space free of distraction to do the work of healing. My ride there gives me time to think about why I'm going, what I need to say, and what I want from the visit. When I leave the door I'm still in a serene state of mind that buffers my return to the "world".