Stress, Gardening and Finding Happiness

Gardening the root to happiness.

We live in a world of stress, a world of constant nagging worry.
We worry about what has already occurred and an anxious anticipation what’s coming up.
We see this stress as an emotional or mental issue, but in reality stress is also a physical process.

Our bodies evolved to flood our cells with hormones as a response to external stress. This hormonal flood of adrenaline and cortisone served the purpose of preparing us to either run away or turn and fight.
Yet in our modern world we sit and ignore the physical impulses of the hormones coursing around our bodies we feel sick and jittery and ignore what’s happening to us.
This build up of unused adrenaline causes physical stress which is so bad for our bodies.

But what can we do to cope with this physical and emotional stress?

Being outside has been proven to improve mental health, it reduces stress and anxiety and reduces the risk of depression. To allow yourself to be still in nature, to make contact with the earth, to immerse your self in the sound of birds singing, the wind blowing, the trees rustling can only be good for the soul.

Gardening is proven to be a fantastic form of outdoor exercise, it improves physical fitness, it improves sleep quality, lifts your mood and boosts self confidence and self esteem.
It’s also proven that physical contact with soil boosts the immune system so its good for your physical health too.

But I think gardening has a deeper benefit as it occupies not only your body but also your mind. 

Working outside in your garden, immersing yourself in your outside space helps you to find internal space for your thoughts, space for ideas and dreams to perculate to bubble through your mind while at the same time constantly bringing your focus back to what you are doing now, bringing you back to your present self your present actions filling your mind with the physical work in front of you.
There is no time for any negative spiraling of thoughts.
Physical activity and the beautiful natural environment bringing you to the here and now, to the present moment.

My other passion the practice of yoga has the same effect, to fill your focus with what you are doing to bring you to your present self your present actions so you are no longer dwelling on the past or imagining the future, clearing you mind of any negative emotions.

So in these times of uncertainty and stress, find a little patch of soil to dig, plant some flowers, sow some seeds. Listen to the sounds about you, find some space within you and breathe.

Plants to grow for scent: Lavender, Rosemary, Lemon balm, Rose

Plants to touch: Stipa tenuissima, Rosemary, Stachys byzantina