http://www.care2.com/greenliving/gardening-as-a-healer.html
Gardening as a Healer
As I wrote in July, healing gardens are places that heal us in all ways: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. A garden doesn’t just heal our souls by bringing joy, peace, balance, and wholeness, a garden also has the added benefit of helping our physical self as we work to maintain this oasis of beauty; it literally exercises our bodies and helps us heal and stay healthy in that way too.
The garden is a refuge for anyone seeking solace, quiet, reflection, or comfort in difficult times, and researchers have actually found that the right environment–usually one with natural elements–can promote healing.
There’s even a whole field devoted to the idea of promoting the people-plant relationship: Horticultural Therapy. It’s what it sounds like, basically using horticulture in a therapeutic way, or using horticulture for wellness and to heal. It involves the use of plants and plant-related activities to improve the body, mind, and spirits of people. It is a field that focuses on the people-plant relationship, or looking at the benefits of plants for people, rather than the view that horticulture usually takes that focuses on the plants.
According to the book Horticulture As Therapy by Sharon Stimson & Martha Straus, “Horticultural therapy is a treatment modality that uses plants and plant products to improve the social, cognitive, physical, psychological, and general health and well-being of its participants. While treatment and rehabilitation typically have been offered in health care facilities, many have found that a garden offers a complementary health care setting that helps to restore physical and mental health to those who work the soil and watch seeds grow.”
Many gardeners can personally attest to the healing powers of their hobby. I know that I can. Who among us hasn’t experienced stress, frustration, depression, and found that being in a natural setting or working in the garden is soothing, calming, therapeutic, offering peace and tranquility?
We all can benefit from plant activities and gardening to ease stress because:
- Plants are calming, therapeutic and soothing.
- Gardening is relaxing and reduces stress, and helps you unwind and clear your mind.
- The peacefulness and tranquility of gardens and gardening reduces tension and anxiety.
- Working in a garden is an outlet for creativity and a form of self-expression.
- While in nature or gardening, you become absorbed and for a brief time forget everything else and can regain pleasure.
Gardening also helps us physically because the physical labor of gardening is similar to the effects of exercising and is a natural way to stretch, reach, bend, walk, and move.
As a moderate exercise activity gardening lowers blood pressure and cholesterol and reduces muscle tension. It also heightens the senses, improves circulation, builds physical endurance, and burns calories. You can burn about 360 calories an hour from gardening.
And, a garden can literally be physically healing if you incorporate edibles such as herbs, trees, vegetables, fruits, etc. for their healing properties and to improve your physical health.
Judi Gerber is a garden and agriculture writer, a horticultural therapy consultant, and a certified Master Gardener with the UC Cooperative Extension Los Angeles, Common Ground Garden Program. Her book Farming in Torrance and the South Bay was released in September 2008.
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12 comments
add your comment »Very true. Whenever I am stressed I do a bit a gardening and feel better. also you feel very happy when you see your plants growing
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A great green low cost gift any office-mate will enjoy, is to grow a TickleMe Plant and watch it MOVE when Tickled! The leaves quickly fold and even the branches droop when Tickled. I found this to be a great stress reliever in my office and what a conversation piece!. You may have seen the TickleMe Plant in the botanical gardens or on the premier of CSI NY. Now it can be grown indoors year round.
No green thumb needed. I found it on line at http://www.ticklemeplant.com
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I just love Carol H's comment! It's priceless, and it reminds me of my own family situation!
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Gardening is fantastic. Totally agree about the therapeutic effects. However, when dealing with soil, always remember to wash your hands thoroughly afterward!!! Very important! Wear gloves too - don't handle soil with bare hands especially if you haven't cut your nails because fine particles can get trapped beneath them. And lastly, don't use pesticides!
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Daisy, great point, I myself find I have a hard time not feeling guilty but then remember it not only provides me with food and flowers, but improved health.
And, I would love to hear the tomato and zucchini chips recipe Nancy!
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When lost in my two favourite hobbies, reading and gardening, I am able to forget all the major health issues I deal with daily. My BP remains perfect with no cholesterol problems...one has to 'allow' one's self to forget the world and not feel guilty for the time spent in the garden.
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And I have just made tomato chips and zucchini chips and last week put some of the tomato chips in olive oil and have taken the beans .. and on and on and on.. Some gardeners know that the produce from a vegetable garden require An almost heroic efforts. But when the cosmos overtook the onions and morning glories climbed the support for one of the beans, my husband said, "Let them grow!" And what a beauty they were. The butterflies loved them! They were a balm to the soul.
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I've planted all the lovely plants that some friends gave me after my mother passed away in August. I think she would appreciate a continuation of life on her behalf.
janine k - what a great idea for birdhouses! I have some stray gourds from my neighbor's yard, and they're huge too. Must be all the compost soil that we "donate" to them ;-)
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I know when husband goes in the yard he comes in a much happier and relaxed person as I stay inside in my world and I am happier and more relaxed because he isn't around me so much and I can enjoy being alone.
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OK, twist my arm. My BOTTLE GOURDS are as big as basketballs. When I make birdhouses with them, they will fit eagles!
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