Miami Oculto takes you to an oasis in the Redland where you can disconnect from city life
You can count on Miami for two things: traffic on the Palmetto and beautiful green spaces off the beaten path.
If you need a mental health day, take a drive to a place featured on the latest edition of the Miami Oculto podcast. Patch of Heaven Sanctuary, a magical meditation garden, is located on the way to the Florida Keys and offers an escape from the stress of city life.
After chasing mysteries in one of Coral Gables’ most iconic buildings, the Biltmore Hotel and telling the strange story of a Cuban from Hialeah who believed he was abducted by aliens on his way to buy a piglet, this new season of el Nuevo Herald’s podcast aims to tell more calming stories.
Now we go to the Redland, where farmland and nurseries share space with this 20-acre sanctuary, where you can find trees like the sacred bodhi, under which Buddha found his enlightenment.
Let yourself be carried away by the flowers, the butterflies, the parakeets, the huge koi in the pond with a waterfall, and even the horses, because Patch of Heaven Sanctuary has a magnificent stable. From the moment you arrive, you are invited to touch, smell, taste, and listen to nature in several small gardens that have given this Mindful Pocket Park its name.
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A sanctuary to disconnect from city life
Did you know there are more than 99 shades of green and that there is a plant that smells like the Vicks VapoRub your grandmother used to put on you when you had a cold? Or that you can sit next to a water fountain and not hear it because your mind is filled with too many thoughts? It’s no exaggeration; we found out when the sound of the gong at a frequency of 428 Hz brought us back to earth and our blood pressure began to drop.
Suzanne Jewell, Chief Experience Officer of Patch of Heaven and also a resilience and mindfulness coach, speaks to us on this episode of Miami Oculto. Jewell intersperses her story of personal recovery thanks to nature—she was once an executive overwhelmed by the pressures of her job—with anecdotes about the benefits of meditation, of seeking that full awareness found walking barefoot or hugging the trees.
Jewell is the guide through this green paradise where spirituality returns amid statues of Tibetan and Hindu deities. The visit ends in this beautifully landscaped garden, where the Philippine jade flower cascades from a stone pergola, which invites you to enter a rustic restaurant serving Thai cuisine.
The end of the tour is perfect for architecture and history lovers. On weekends, at 1 and 3 p.m., they offer a tour of the Matheson House, built 60 years ago for the family who developed Key Biscayne. Matheson House is an architectural gem with wire mesh walls, stone details, ponds and an indoor pool, and a collection of artifacts acquired in different countries.
Watch all episodes of the Hidden Miami podcast on YouTube, the el Nuevo Herald website, or listen to it on your favorite audio platform: Spotify Podcast Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio and Amazon Music.
This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 10:37 AM.
