Dr. Carole Myers: Sue, you're a nationally recognized gardener, I'm so pleased you're here, but why are you here to talk about mental health and plants? What's the connection?
Dr. Sue Hamilton: It's pretty amazing, but when we garden, we really do get many, many benefits. But studies have found that when we garden, it's almost like a form of meditation. And we all know, you know the wonderful benefits of meditation, how it's calming, can reduce stress, reduce anxiety. It's really good for your overall mental well being.
So let's talk more about that.
When you care for something and you're nurturing it, something is living and thriving, and it's because of you taking care of that that too has many benefits psychologically. It can boost your self esteem.
I'm sure there's others.
Oh, yeah, physical activity. What I love about gardening is you're out there and you know, you might be weeding, you might be planting, you might be pruning, you're physically active, and you're not focused on the activity, the exercise, you're busy and you're distracted because you're in your garden, taking care of these plants and all. But yet, you get the wonderful benefit of some physical activity. And we know the benefits of physical activity, in addition to physically with your body, but it has mental health benefits as well.
So you've made a case for the mental health and the physical benefits of gardening. What are some practical suggestions?
Did you know that eight out of 10 people garden? It's a very popular hobby, and lots of resources are out there. But when you take care of a plant indoors, outdoors, even if it's just a container, a raised bed, a garden, a landscape, putting a new garden in or planting any of those taking care of a plant, it can be that simple.
So I'm interested. You know, you and I both have the advantage of living in rural areas where we have lots of space to grow our plants. But that's not the case for some people.
Interior plants have become so popular. Again, I know people have rediscovered the joy and the benefits of caring for indoor plants. So that's very easy,
And then sue we see in some communities, community gardens. We see community gardens for growing food, but we also see communal garden spaces where people from the community are caring for those gardens. Could you talk a little bit about other opportunities that perhaps people don't put first on their list.
Right? And let me say that gardening is a fabulous way to connect socially, and that's another powerful benefit to gardening. And when you think about what we hear so much in society, about loneliness and sadness, isolation, connecting with people again, eight out of 10 people, it's easy to connect with people that have an interest, like minded and caring for plants, gardening, getting out to a botanical garden. Maybe in your neighborhood you do have a community garden. Those are all fabulous ways to connect with people, but everybody has that same interest. And you know what else is really neat about gardening, too. It doesn't matter what kind of car you drive, if it's a truck or a Mercedes Benz or anything, all of that is gone. People connect on the level of plants.
Note: Below are some helpful links for those wanting more information about gardening, etc.
