Why does gardening make you feel so good?

[Kim Ridley]

I love growing at least a little of my own organic produce (it was a fabulous year for winter squash here in Maine) and spending as much time as possible outdoors. But it turns out there might be another reason gardening makes so many of us feel so good.

Check out Is Dirt the New Prozac?

What do you think?

[Julie]

Thankfully, I also had great success with squash this year. I grew three different varieties of squash in my garden, here in the mountain outside of Santa Fe, NM. I was a bit amazed, honestly, because I barely had time to care for them--I was so busy caring for my new baby!

I loved the article about dirt, the new Prozac. I'm always pleased when the "natural" solution is finally recognized (and giggle when they describe things like this as a new discovery!). A beautiful remedy for millions of people struggling with depression has always been right under their feet. When we say 'chin up' we might also want to say 'chin down.' Mother Nature truly knows best...if only we would all make more time on our days to appreciate her and be healed by her beauty and wisdom.

[Bioneers]

Kim, love this article!

Anecdotally, my experience supports the scientific evidence too. Eschewing the advice of my mother-in-law to "garden in gloves so my nails don't get ruined" (ha ha!), I can't bear the thought of anything between my bare hands and the dirt.

I also believe the same serotonin boost can be recreated through "garden meditation." I'm making it sound unnecessarily formal which it's not because I'm actually a crappy meditator, but one of my favorite calming visualizations is a virtual walk through my garden. Does the trick every time.

In any case, this natural boost is sadly unavailable to many urban folks. Here's to more urban community gardens!

[Melissa MoonGoddess]

I find it interesting that they're trying to "isolate" the bacterium which creates this anti-depressant effect... that's so like allopathic medicine... looking for individual isolates rather than appreciating the whole as it is. We are meant to be in a dynamic relationship with the earth. Separate us from her and we get depressed.... Oh, nevermind, here, pop this pill, it has what's in the soil that makes you feel better...

I don't think so.

[Ok... time out here... I'm looking out the window at this fabulous waning moon in the night sky with clouds sailing by... ahhhh]

Three years ago I discovered that I became depressed in the spring when I didn't have a garden to work in. I had just separated from a partner of nine years the November previously and was living in a new place, without a garden to tend. I ended up doing my own garden "therapy" by starting pepper seeds under a lamp and on top of a heat mat.

I've just joined Bioneers (within 24 hrs last Wednesday, I found this site, and later, when I was volunteering at a bookstore, a woman came in with the Bioneers book) and am very excited to find a group of likeminded folk.

[Helena Wu]

I'm thinking like you're thinking MoonGoddess! How about the effects of also getting sunshine, fresh air and exercise? How about the fact that we are made to interact intimately with the rest of Nature and when we don't we become depressed because we are missing a vital connection in our lives? I am fed up with reductionism!
While I was at the New England Women's Herbal Conference this weekend I saw a great film called Numen:The Nature of Plants. It explores (mainly through interviews) herbal medicine as a safe, effective, sustainable health care option.
I am an herbalist and know for sure that a big part of healing is our relationship with the plants and through them the Earth and Spirit. Spirit heals and we need to respect and work with that when it comes to healing and get away from the mechanistic view of conventional medicine.
You might enjoy two books by Stephen H. Buhner- The Lost Language of Plants and The Secret Teachings of Plants.