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What are some clinically proven
benefits for the mind that arise
from gardening?
Gardening is really a mind-body-spirit
activity. Being outdoors has well-known
effects on mood, and physical activity
is good for all kinds of things, like
lowering anxiety and improving sleep.
It’s also a great way to get out of our
heads and the constant stories we tell
ourselves that contribute to worry and
rumination and focus our awareness on
all the stimuli in the garden.
How much time can one spend
in a garden before beginning to
feel better?
It can really start from the moment
we step into the garden. Just the act of
entering the garden can start to quiet
the nervous system, putting us into
parasympathetic activity which turns
down the stress response. Personally,
I benefit at times just from looking out
my second-floor window at the garden
below, and feel my breath deepen and
my shoulders relax.
“Digging, hoeing,
and raking
tightens our core
muscles and gives the
shoulders and hands
a good workout.”
Do the good feelings remain when
the gardening season ends? Winter
can be a time for depressive feelings.
Winter can be a challenging time as we
put the garden to bed and say goodbye
to all the green and the productivity.
But it’s also a good reminder of the
seasons that all of us pass through, and
that life follows death. Life, in fact, is
built on death, if we think of the decay
of compost piles and the magic that
compost works in our garden beds. So,
gardens can remind us that it’s normal to
experience cycles and ups and downs.
How did gardening help you
through your challenging illness?
And did the beneficial effects last?
I was dealing with a lot of bewildering
symptoms that eventually led to a
pretty deep depression, and I knew
I needed to get more engaged in
activities I enjoyed. So, I built a
fairly extensive backyard garden. It
really helped bring me back to life —
constructing the wooden beds,
learning about starting seedlings,
planning the layout of the garden.
I never felt more content than when
I was gardening, and it gave me a
great reason to spend hours outside
every day. I’m still feeling those
beneficial effects, now in the second
year of this garden. Gardens are also
great for connecting with other people,
like when we shared spring kale with
friends during the pandemic because
they were having a hard time finding
green vegetables their young kids
would eat. The kids loved the kale
leaves roasted with olive oil into
kale chips.
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