Motivational Connection

Therapeutic Horticulture, according to Oregon State University, "Is the use of plants and gardening activities to promote health and wellness...and it's effective and beneficial for people of all ages, background, and abilities" (2014). Since I can remember, I have played in the dirt.  From a young age, making mud pies and eating them.  Anyone else do this?  Do not be alarmed, I'm fine.... Anywhere I have lived whether I had the space or not, I planted flowers.  The virbrant colors, planting something and watching it grow, all of this has always brought me great joy. Sometimes the places I have lived only had balcony's or porches, but that wouldn't stop me, I planted in pots! Flowers make me feel alive. Digging in the dirt to plant flowers is therapeutic. Watching something grow you planted is rewarding. So how else is gardening good for us?  Why is it good for our mental health? Gardening and horticulture is healing by:   

In Psychology Today Rayner states,  "Gardening reminds us of the cyle of life, and thus come to terms with that most universal of anxieities: death" (p. 1). Garndening reminds us both the giving of life and the acknowledgement of it's end. It can be a symbolic action and reminds us that just as in life we nuture, we also nuture when we garden. The process of gardening can reduce our anxieties caused by death.  We build beautiful cemetaries that are full of greens and flowers.  At a funeral, people are seen placing flowers on a casket.  We plants trees, bushes, and flowers around our loved one's who have passed. 

Here are a few pictures to show you what my gardening and horticulture looks like around my home. Just as nature brings me pure, so does the idea of horticulture: