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Plant Something
Shared from Karin Denes-Collar with KU Medical Center
As spring is nearly here, you may be thinking about getting out and working in the garden. If that is something that you haven’t spent time with in the past, consider that gardening has been shown to lead to benefits to mental health.
Research has shown that even viewing pictures of nature can lead to benefits to mood. A study in Japan found that merely looking at plants led to changed EEG readings and decreased stress, fear, anger and sadness, among other benefits. It has been hypothesized that the benefits of gardening are related to these, however getting outside also gives us the physical benefits of moving while digging, stooping and raking.
So, take some time this weekend to get outside and dig or plant something (or make a plan to do so!). In my part of the state, it’s not too early to get some food crops or early spring annuals planted (think potatoes, onions and pansies), and if your yard is anything like mine, there are plenty of clean up opportunities as well. (I could spend part of an afternoon just picking up sticks from my 50+ year old trees!) Of course, we also know that setting and accomplishing goals leads to improvements in mood. Taking time now to plan a garden, even if you can’t plant yet, will lead to some benefits.
Don’t have a greenspace to work in? No worries—consider growing houseplants, talking with a friend or family member about helping them in their yard, or looking into a local community garden.
For a nice summary that includes some of the research cited above, click here to link to this 2018 article: Thompson R. (2018). Gardening for health: a regular dose of gardening. Clinical medicine (London, England), 18(3), 201–205. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.18-3-201.
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