Ted Rogers School’s Friends & Flowers event cultivates mindfulness and community
The CPA Lounge on the 7th floor of the Ted Rogers School of Management transformed into a temporary garden on April 9, 2026, where tables were filled with a shared meal, small pots, soft chatter, light laughter and hands deep in the soil.
Over 100 people signed up for Ted Rogers School’s Friends & Flowers Community Planting Event. It was a full house: a mix of faculty, students and staff from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), carrying the invisible weight of deadlines, exams looming and papers to grade. But something shifted as they came together. Maybe it was the smell of earth. Maybe it was the quiet intention behind the tables. Or maybe it was simply the permission to pause.
The event was opened by Amy Desjarlais, Lead, Rebirthed Teachings at TMU, sharing Indigenous ways of knowing and being, gently encouraging us to think about our connection to the land. Each participant found their station, named after a native plant: Grandmother Cedar, Grandfather Birch, Cedar, Birch, Strawberry, Tobacco and Sage. These names were carefully translated into Anishnabemowin by Mykelle Pacquing, Anishinaabemowin Language and Culture Educator, Human-Robot Interaction Ethics Researcher, and Communication and Culture Doctoral Candidate at TMU.
Some participants planted solo, seeking stillness. Others came with a friend, and were seated side by side. Each station included instructions on how to plant, along with questions that would initiate a conversation with the person seated at their table. Hands pressed gently into soil, seeds were placed with care. There was something quietly powerful about it. The act of planting something that would outlast the hour.
“This event was a reminder that mindfulness doesn’t need to be complicated,” says Dr. Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee, Associate Dean of Engagement & Inclusion. “That connection shapes how we honour the four Rs of Indigenous research and education: how we integrate our responsibility, with respect, in the act of reciprocity, that is relevant. That sometimes, the most meaningful thing you can do in the middle of a busy day is to stop, and create something living.”
The seeds planted during the event will spend time growing indoors, nurtured in the weeks ahead. And when summer arrives, they’ll be transplanted into Ted Rogers School’s future Indigenous Healing Garden. A shared legacy, grown from a single hour.
The future of the Indigenous Healing Garden seen in its seedling phase, as a presence woven into campus life. A space where learning extends beyond classrooms. Where Indigenous knowledge can be accessible, and not only acknowledged, but experienced. Where students, staff and faculty can return to reflect, reconnect and restore. In a place defined by movement, productivity and constant demand, the idea of a garden offers something different. It invites stillness. It creates room for a relationship with the land, with one another and with ourselves.
This event and the act of planting indoors became, in many ways, a promise. That this small, shared experience reminded us that seeds could grow into something lasting. That wellness can be built into the spaces we move through every day. That reconciliation can take shape not only in words, but in living systems we choose to nurture.
And perhaps most importantly, it showed that there is both a need, and a readiness, for a space like this at the Ted Rogers School. Listening to those who shared their positive feedback, we invite the TMU community to join us for Planting Day on June 3, 2026 (external link) at the Ted Rogers School for National Indigenous History Month.