It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

Access to nature may be vital for mental health, and how gardens heal.

page: 1
12
<<   2 >>

log in

join
share:

posted on Jun, 28 2016 @ 10:18 PM
link   
As an avid bushwalker and gardener this news does not surprise me at all



www.sciencealert.com...


Getting away from it all in the great outdoors has been a proven panacea for generations of city-dwellers, but a new study has quantified how access to nature could be a vital component in our overall mental health.



The researchers took two groups of participants and led them on 90-minute walks through two very different kinds of environments. One group walked across a grassland area populated with oak trees and shrubs, while the other group walked along the side of a heavily trafficked four-lane highway.

By performing brain scans on the walkers before and after the expedition, the team found that neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex - the area of the brain that’s active during rumination - had decreased in the volunteers who explored the natural environment. Their experience was consistent with this finding, with the group reporting that they found themselves ruminating less during the walk.

Those who trekked along the side of the road, on the other hand, demonstrated no changes in their neural activity, or in their self-reporting on rumination, suggesting that nature experiences can have a discernable, positive impact on our brains’ emotional regulation.


There have also been studies into the benefits of gardens in hospitals and unsurprisingly these also appear to have benefits.

www.scientificamerican.com...


The notion that the fresh breezes, dappled sunlight and fragrant greenery of a garden can be good for what ails us has its roots in ancient tradition and common sense. But a much cited study, published in 1984 in the journal Science by environmental psychologist Roger Ulrich, now at Texas A&M University, was the first to use the standards of modern medical research—strict experimental controls and quantified health outcomes—to demonstrate that gazing at a garden can sometimes speed healing from surgery, infections and other ailments.

Ulrich and his team reviewed the medical records of people recovering from gallbladder surgery at a suburban Pennsylvania hospital. All other things being equal, patients with bedside windows looking out on leafy trees healed, on average, a day faster, needed significantly less pain medication and had fewer postsurgical complications than patients who instead saw a brick wall.



Fortunately, as the evidence implicating hospitals as major engines of stress builds, the stack of data suggesting that gardens and planted alcoves can encourage healing has grown, too. Just three to five minutes spent looking at views dominated by trees, flowers or water can begin to reduce anger, anxiety and pain and to induce relaxation, according to various studies of healthy people that measured physiological changes in blood pressure, muscle tension, or heart and brain electrical activity.


As an avid gardener living in an inner city suburb in a rented house with poor soil how does one garden. I approached this problem by building raised garden beds. Despite the limited space there's a portable solution where one can control variables a lot better than in a fixed garden bed.



It's hard to argue with studies like this. Not your hippie back-to-the-land ideology of the sixties and seventies, but rather simply taking the time out of a busy schedule to do some gardening and walking in nature. Sometimes it's a lot more productive than spending time arguing in the political forums of ATS.


edit on 28-6-2016 by cuckooold because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 28 2016 @ 10:22 PM
link   
Also don't forget to take your shoes off for a grounding effect!!



posted on Jun, 28 2016 @ 10:25 PM
link   
Not only mental health but medically as well. A while in the yard , garden , or just walking through the woods with my dog and bingo , normal blood pressure.




Not your hippie back-to-the-land ideology of the sixties and seventies,


And being an old one , whats wrong with that ?



posted on Jun, 28 2016 @ 10:28 PM
link   

originally posted by: JinMI
Also don't forget to take your shoes off for a grounding effect!!

You got it.



posted on Jun, 28 2016 @ 10:36 PM
link   
a reply to: Gothmog

Absolutely nothing, but there was a tendency when I was younger with my generational peers to refer to some activities as hippie bs. I'm familiar with a lot of hippie literature (I count my parents in this group), and I don't think it's out of the question to suggest there was a lot of fantastical hyperbole amongst the hippies.



posted on Jun, 28 2016 @ 10:38 PM
link   
a reply to: cuckooold
A good thread for you for a future day ? The "hippie generation" and the start of the progressive liberal movement in the US.

edit on 6/28/16 by Gothmog because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 29 2016 @ 07:38 AM
link   
a reply to: cuckooold

As someone with 'Schizophrenia' who has bouts of 'depression', I already know this. This is why i hate living in the City. Too much concrete and Nature has disappeared but guess what... tptb want more concrete houses built. Not only that but people are adjusting their gardens into concrete... so all in all it's more concrete all round.



posted on Jun, 29 2016 @ 07:53 AM
link   

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: JinMI
Also don't forget to take your shoes off for a grounding effect!!

You got it.


Total tripe, sorry to say.

The entire "grounding" thing is total hogwash.

You won't maintain a net charge for very long, unless you're in special shoes in total 0% humidity. Being in a garden sort of obviates that. So, very rapidly, you will bleed away any net charge in the form of ionized air until you're only carrying a few Volts of charge relative to ground.

Wiggling your toes in the dirt doesn't cause electrons to rush into your body, either. Because if they did, you'd have a net negative charge with relation to the ground. Electrons don't 'want' that, so you won't get extra.

eta: you might get something extra with barefeet in soil that's been fertilized with 'natural' fertilizer - a nice case of pinworms.
edit on 29-6-2016 by Bedlam because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 29 2016 @ 08:05 AM
link   
I have heard other stories and believe this is very important. I have a 9-5er boring cubicle job that pays well but the building has bad lighting and I was far from the window for a few years. I recently fought to be in the back near the window (a bigger cubicle but same job) to improve my aura which no one really understood but they were like "ok, whatever". The natural light I know has shifted me into being over-all happier and now my plants can grow and stay alive.

I have also heard other stories of people connecting to a universal energy / fabric but only through being in nature. I love chilling at home in my house, but there is something about getting outside, listening to the birds, crickets, staring at the stars, the trees. Its different and quite amazing.



posted on Jun, 29 2016 @ 08:17 AM
link   

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: JinMI
Also don't forget to take your shoes off for a grounding effect!!

You got it.


Total tripe, sorry to say.

The entire "grounding" thing is total hogwash.

You won't maintain a net charge for very long, unless you're in special shoes in total 0% humidity. Being in a garden sort of obviates that. So, very rapidly, you will bleed away any net charge in the form of ionized air until you're only carrying a few Volts of charge relative to ground.

Wiggling your toes in the dirt doesn't cause electrons to rush into your body, either. Because if they did, you'd have a net negative charge with relation to the ground. Electrons don't 'want' that, so you won't get extra.

eta: you might get something extra with barefeet in soil that's been fertilized with 'natural' fertilizer - a nice case of pinworms.



posted on Jun, 29 2016 @ 08:21 AM
link   

originally posted by: StuKE

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: JinMI
Also don't forget to take your shoes off for a grounding effect!!

You got it.





Total tripe, sorry to say.

The entire "grounding" thing is total hogwash.

You won't maintain a net charge for very long, unless you're in special shoes in total 0% humidity. Being in a garden sort of obviates that. So, very rapidly, you will bleed away any net charge in the form of ionized air until you're only carrying a few Volts of charge relative to ground.

Wiggling your toes in the dirt doesn't cause electrons to rush into your body, either. Because if they did, you'd have a net negative charge with relation to the ground. Electrons don't 'want' that, so you won't get extra.

eta: you might get something extra with barefeet in soil that's been fertilized with 'natural' fertilizer - a nice case of pinworms.


Sorry, replied without comments!
Whether the barefoot recharging thing is true or not is only a part of it. There will be benefits just from being more in contact with nature from a tactile aspect. Just try it. Which is more relaxing? Shoes or barefoot (unless you stand on a bee or something...)



posted on Jun, 29 2016 @ 08:36 AM
link   

originally posted by: StuKE
Which is more relaxing? Shoes or barefoot (unless you stand on a bee or something...)


Shoes, if you're using tools!


It's tough to dig holes with a shovel using bare feet. It's dangerous to use a post hole digger in bare feet.

If you're just loafing, bare feet feel nice, but it's not because you're 'grounded'.



posted on Jun, 29 2016 @ 09:02 AM
link   
a reply to: Bedlam

Although I prefer walking around every where including the woods barefoot for a plethora of reasons. I gotta agree shoes for when using a shovel on impacted dirt where you gotta stomp the blade into the ground. Also long pants, nit shorts for when clearing scratchy brush.

Im a weirdo though. I actually prefere jogging and running around the neighborhood barefoot. The soles of my feet are tougher than vibram.

People look at you strange though when you're out n about and bare foot I will say that.

As for being around plants and nature to improve your psyche I whole heartedly agree. I personally wonder if people are generally happier around a environment thats thriving eith life as opposed to say a desert where everything is bleak. I think it effects us subconsciously when your around a environment with little resources or abundance



posted on Jun, 29 2016 @ 10:28 AM
link   

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: JinMI
Also don't forget to take your shoes off for a grounding effect!!

You got it.


Total tripe, sorry to say.

The entire "grounding" thing is total hogwash.

You won't maintain a net charge for very long, unless you're in special shoes in total 0% humidity. Being in a garden sort of obviates that. So, very rapidly, you will bleed away any net charge in the form of ionized air until you're only carrying a few Volts of charge relative to ground.

Wiggling your toes in the dirt doesn't cause electrons to rush into your body, either. Because if they did, you'd have a net negative charge with relation to the ground. Electrons don't 'want' that, so you won't get extra.

eta: you might get something extra with barefeet in soil that's been fertilized with 'natural' fertilizer - a nice case of pinworms.

Ahh, but you have forgotten. I have very strong ties to my Native American heritage. One of the ways to get "connected" to the earth. Good thing I am not easily offended.
edit on 6/29/16 by Gothmog because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 29 2016 @ 10:41 AM
link   

originally posted by: Gothmog
Ahh, but you have forgotten. I have very strong ties to my Native American heritage. One of the ways to get "connected" to the earth. Good thing I am not easily offended.


It may make you feel connected, but it's not by "grounding" your electric potential. You were likely there to begin with, unless you're wearing hard rubber soled shoes and doing the funky chicken on cat hair carpet.


edit on 29-6-2016 by Bedlam because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 29 2016 @ 11:09 AM
link   
the human bodie is 2/3 bacteria!
tho they are trying to say now that its just over 50%.
they dont like that we are NOT humans.
but that we are bacteria!

and what do you do?
you clean/kill as many bacteria as you can.
you use disinfection and even colloidal silver!
You are killing your bodie!

YOU NEED THEM TO LIVE!
just like the Earth needs them to have life on it.
it is the um! terroist bacteria that are out to get you.
the symbiotic bacteria are the good guys.
we Need each other to live.

tho I wounder if bacteria had a hand in
the evolution of human and animal life?
we make greate homes for THEM!

No! I am not saying let germs and bad bacteria get you.
Why have NOT studies been done to find out
what good bacteria can be use'd the kill the bad?

just look at the health of the world.
we can no longer stop the bad bacteria!
or real terroists...

edit on 29-6-2016 by buddha because: why not



posted on Jul, 4 2016 @ 02:37 AM
link   
SPAM removed by admin
edit on Jul 15th 2016 by Djarums because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 27 2016 @ 03:09 AM
link   
The influencing factors to mental health were social support and coping styles. Nature gives people a way to relax themselves so that it can help solve the mental health problems. Taking Chimeric Peptides as the example, it requires back to natural experimental method.



posted on Aug, 27 2016 @ 03:15 AM
link   
When you feel that inner peace, sense of purity around nature, nothing like it.



posted on Sep, 7 2016 @ 02:50 AM
link   
I really like the dear information you offer in your articles. I’m able to bookmark your site and show the kids check out up here generally. Im fairly positive theyre likely to be informed a great deal of new stuff here than anyone gmail sign login




top topics



 
12
<<   2 >>

log in

join