TOApril, time to tidy up balconies, terraces and gardens. Not just an aesthetic gesture but also a healthy habit. Simple activities such as taking care of plants, watering them, repotting them are allies of mental well-being. They help you concentrate and forget the so-called mental brooding. It is no coincidence that we talk about garden therapy.
Vegetable gardens and balconies, the basis of garden therapy
Contact with nature is good on a biological and psychological level. It is a well-known fact that can also be applied to simply taking care of your balcony: «Growing plants is not just an aesthetic issue: it is also a powerful ally for mental well-being. Simple activities like gardening make us feel better because contact with the earth and plants activates various psychological and biological mechanisms» explains the Dr. Beatrice Casoni, specialist in psychiatry, at the Erresse Polyclinic in Ferrara. In fact, these activities, in addition to giving us a more beautiful balcony, also have two great benefits: not only do they reconnect with the rhythms of nature but above all, being manual and concrete activities, they stimulate concentration and therefore attenuate the continuous brooding on thoughts and problems that is very often done.
“Because of this we talk about garden therapy, or orthotherapy, because it is a real therapeutic approach recognized that uses gardening for improve mental health. This type of therapy has been studied in clinical and rehabilitation field, especially for people with anxiety, depression and stress disorders. Several studies have shown that dedicating yourself to plant care can significantly reduce perceived stress levels and improve mood» explains the doctor. And the benefits in this case are many.
So much so that the so-called therapeutic gardens were born in the United States. These are green spaces where there are many plants and are designed precisely to facilitate the healing interaction between man and nature. Gardens can be of different types, sensory, healing, restorative, enabling and enabling. As claimed by theAmerican Horticultural Therapy Association, the benefits that greenery has on humans are very broad and act from different points of view. In fact, depending on the disease or even the disability, horticultural therapy helps motor skills, concentration, resistance, hand-eye coordination but also the development of a sense of independence of control. Benefits that can also be noticed on your balcony.
Less stress and better mood, the benefits of taking care of balconies and vegetable gardens
Vegetable gardens and gardens aside, in fact, garden therapy can also be carried out on your own balcony and still has many advantages. First of all the stress reduction: «A study has been published on Journal of Health Psychology which highlighted how that pruning, sowing and generally taking care of plants lowers cortisol levels more than other relaxing activities».
Also not to be underestimated mood improvementwith a stimulation of the production of serotonin and dopamine, and a reduction of anxiety«a meta-analysis was in fact published on Preventive Medicine Reports (Soga et al., 2017) confirmed significant positive effects of gardening on mental health.” It is also important raising self-esteem and personal satisfaction levels. Seeing small tufts emerge from seeds planted first and then seedlings grow, perhaps with flowers and fruit, gives a lot of satisfaction.
Self-esteem that grows also because horticultural therapy does not lead to a sense of frustration or anger. It is in fact considered as areassuring activity because you don’t feel the sense of failure but rather you perceive the sensation of being able to give life and see it grow before you every day.
The good mood friendly bacterium
And then there is Mycobacterium vaccae. A very curious and fascinating aspect that promotes mental health is the presence of this very bacterium: «Some studies, in fact, suggest that this bacterium present in the soil it can positively influence mood, stimulating the production of serotonin. This would help explain why “getting your hands dirty” can make us feel more serene” explains the expert, who continues: “Finally we cannot forget the benefits of exposure to natural light. Being outdoors exposes you to sunlight, which regulates the circadian rhythm and promotes the synthesis of vitamin D. This has direct effects on energy, sleep quality and mood. It is no coincidence that the lack of light is associated with forms of seasonal depression.”
«Gardening activities are accessible to anyone. You don’t need to be an expert: even taking care of a few plants on the balcony can have beneficial effects. In addition, gardening also teaches us to accept imperfection and waiting: not everything grows immediately, and this is a very valuable message on a psychological level. Experiencing this moment without haste, as a ritual of personal well-being can reconnect us to a more natural rhythm, something that we need today, more than ever.”
