If apartments bordering a park or with a balcony are more expensive, it is no coincidence. Numerous scientific studies have confirmed it: the mere sight of plants rekindles positive energy and counters the effects of stress.
Thus, in the United States, certain operating theaters have been equipped with a bay window overlooking a park and it has been possible to measure that patients recover more quickly, with fewer complications.
Other work has shown that contemplating a green landscape reduces the stress of students before an exam, reduces their blood and muscle tension, or even reduces the headaches of employees. The University of Washington has even proven that observing a landscape on a screen does not lead to the same benefits as contemplating a real landscape! If you can’t move or tear down the walls, you still have to make the most of collective green spaces.
Is the garden a good anti-stress?
We know that stress favors infections, by altering the functioning of the immune system, as well as the appearance of cardiovascular diseases. A recent study has even proven that it accelerates aging. If a “window with a view” already contributes to our mental balance, having the good fortune to have a garden contributes, one suspects, much more. Not content to delight the eyes, it also offers a refuge, which helps to evacuate fatigue and nervousness. Take a walk in these resourceful places, inviting you to “take the field”. Instinctively, our body changes tempo to harmonize with the rhythm of nature. But, if this contact replenishes our forces, it is also because nature is both cyclical and eternal, which can re-teach us to appreciate life. What better message of hope for a depressed person than spring returning to where everything seemed dead? “The earth powerfully regenerates, comforts souls in pain and has helped many depressed people to recover,” recalls Jean-Luc Chavanis, author of “These gardens that help us” (ed. Le Courrier du livre, 19, €90), who has also created a coaching method using its benefits.
What other health benefits does it offer?
If the simple contemplation of the garden is already good, putting “hands in” brings additional benefits. First of all, handling the lawn mower, dibbler or pruner allows you to practice a minimum of physical activity, so essential to maintain your shape. The various “exercises” increase flexibility and strength, improve coordination and balance. Besides thirty minutes of gardening allow you to burn as many calories (125 to 200 depending on the activity) as a brisk walk of the same duration. Even if it offers a privileged framework for meditation, the garden does not encourage isolation but, on the contrary, promotes contact. We exchange advice and seeds, we give tomatoes to our neighbors or nuts from our tree. By promoting intergenerational links and social diversity, the garden still contributes to good physical and mental health, as evidenced by the numerous works, carried out in particular on aging. “Gardens increase self-esteem and sociability. This is why they are also gaining a growing place in healthcare centres”, explains Denis Richard, head of the pharmacy department at the Henri-Laborit hospital in Poitiers and author of “When gardening heals” (ed. Delachaux and Niestlé, 19 €). The flowerbeds that flourish in schools and leisure centers finally teach essential values to young city dwellers: patience, respect for the environment, sense of responsibility, etc.
A true remedy for the sick
The garden figures more and more as a “therapeutic accompaniment” in health centres. By planting a vegetable garden in the park of thehospital La Pitié-Salpétrière in Paris in 1997, Anne Ribes was the first to show how autistic children gradually regain the desire to communicate. Since then, his association “Belles Plantes” has run many healing gardens in hospitals and retirement homes. Gardening also allows people with motor disabilities (MS, Parkinson’s, old age) to mobilize their bodies in a creative way. The key: a reduction in anxiety, less consumption of analgesics and less dependence. Spectacular effect also on patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease: smells and colors awaken memories, while observing the seasons provides landmarks that allow you to situate yourself in time. “This activity provides a fundamental complement to medical treatments”, defends Dr. Alain Calender, professor of neuro-genetics at the Faculty of Medicine of Lyon and president of the association “Garden, art and health”. For the most fragile as for everyone, the garden offers a little corner of paradise rediscovered, where we harvest even more than what we sowed!