Jardim Sensorial da UFJF, um espaço de terapia e conscientização

Abstract

(UFJF Sensory Garden, a Place of Theraphy and Awareness). The Sensory Garden (SG) of Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF) is formed by three circular beds. Its entrance is directed to the east referring to the rising sun (fire), the west corresponds the land of the sunset, to the south the element water comes with the rains, and to the north, it has the air of expansion. This reference is based on "Opy", a Tupi-Guarani prayer house. The SG has 30 sensory plants distributed in these quadrants. The work evaluated the sensations and perceptions of SG through adult visitors (with age between 18 and 59 years) that answered voluntarily a semistructured questionary, in order to compare the two ways of visit: one when the visitors necessarily walked through the space with shoes and with no blindfold, without touching nor smelling any plant – it´s called Control Form (CF), and another one when visitors necessarily performed the course barefoot and blindfolded, groping and smelling the plants, - this way is called Sensory Garden Form (SGF). 474 questionnaires were answered by the adults, being 239 questionnaires for females and 118 for males in SGF, and for 64 surveys for women and 53 for men in CF. The average age of the visitors was 25 years, and 98% experienced this sensory model for the first time, confirming the innovative character of SG. The feelings generated were predominantly positive, standing out Tranquillity, Well-being, Calm and Peace (for both forms of visit) demonstrating that SG relieves daily stress causing relaxation. From the statistical analysis, the alteration in the forms of perception generated inside the SG increased tact, smell, hearing and energy. It also altered the perception of time and space, activated memories by the aroma of some plants, and awakened positive feelings by the judgment of the soles of the feet. All those sensations demonstrate that this form of visit removes the visitor from the daily contemplative state and besides that, present a provocative character. Environmental education as a highlight of knowledge transmission points out the awareness of SG. The SG promotes stress relief by spontaneously provoking positive feelings, making the visitor more relaxed and where pleasant tact and sense of smell promote synergy and consequent well-being.