The Mental and Physical Benefits of Gardening Therapy for Louisiana Residents
Stress, anxiety, and depression are at all time highs for nearly every demographic group in the country. The world has shifted in ways no one could have predicted just a year ago. I look around to find more people than ever spending their days tethered to a workstation or smartphone. In fact, as many schools and businesses have transitioned online, the amount of time spent staring at a smartphone has increased an average of 30% on the low end! In my opinion, we distract ourselves just fine without the help of social media platforms built for that very same purpose. A study from the health institutes of both Canada and Australia found a direct causal relationship between increased screen time (from Smart Phones as well as TV) and heightened rates of anxiety and depression. This was merely a problem a decade ago but has accelerated with the adoption of Smart devices – specifically among young teenagers – into a full-blown crisis. I painted a pretty doom and gloom picture here, but one does not find work in the world of plants without being a bit optimistic!
We have all stepped outside on an especially beautiful day of clear skies and warm rays. You know the sense of rejuvenation as your arms and legs take the sun’s rays, and as you deeply inhale the fresh air. It turns out, that feeling of natural splendor generates unique results on a mentally drained person. Field experiments conducted by the Journal of Health Psychology made individuals perform mentally stressful tasks. Once completed, the researchers allowed them to either read a book indoors or garden outdoors as a stress reliever. Gardening under the sun was found to lower cortisol levels – the primary stress hormone – significantly more than reading a book. Even the participants, who did not have access to their cortisol levels during the experiment, described their positive mood as having been “fully restored”. This was the opposite opinion of those who read, saying their mood had been furtherer deteriorated by reading.
When you look at all this data, it is a difficult to form a discernable plan of action. I think that is the point! With people soaking up so much information, we are overwhelmed. We are afraid to miss something important, and afraid to act on something unimportant. To sit in a garden, free from distractions, is to allow your mind to rest. One does not think about pulling the weeds, or tossing dead leaves, or patting down dirt. We are not reading a book to learn someone else’s story, nor are we on a phone watching someone else’s actions. Our hands are too busy at work for those distractions. It is just you and the sun, the dirt and the plants. I would call this your state of mindful thinking. It is where I think about myself and the future. By the time I am done, petty worries leave my thoughts and insurmountable difficulties become jeering obstacles – challenging me to take every problem by the horns.
Have a blessed day!
