By Nikki Brooke, Rapid Transformational Therapist, in collaboration with Hannah HS Garden Design, Cardiff

I love Spring, when nature signals new life – Daffodils brightening the gardens and roadsides with hope and possibility. It’s now early Summer as I write this and this is when I love getting out in the garden. 

Just a half hour, watering the tomato plants, and other pots, picking a few weeds, I find it’s a small moment in time when I naturally switch off and on those occasions when I get more time out there, I definitely notice a sense or serenity as I become completely absorbed in what I’m doing. 

When people think about reducing anxiety, they often think about meditation, breathing exercises or therapy.

And whilst those things absolutely have their place, getting outside, getting your hands dirty and growing something is a simple and often overlooked way to chill out.

It might sound too simple to make much difference, but science is increasingly showing that gardening can have a genuinely positive effect on our mental wellbeing.

As someone who works with people struggling with anxiety and unhealthy coping habits, I'm always interested in practical things that help calm the nervous system naturally.

The interesting thing is, gardening isn't just "a nice hobby."

It appears to work on several different levels at once.

Anxiety Isn't Just in Your Head

Many of the people I work with are incredibly capable.

• They run businesses.
• They manage teams.
• They provide for families.

From the outside, life looks pretty good.

But underneath it all, they're running on pressure.

Their brain never quite switches off.

They're constantly thinking about the next job, the next email, the next problem.

Eventually, many people find themselves reaching for something to take the edge off.

For some, it's a few drinks. For others, it might be cocaine, gambling, overworking or simply scrolling endlessly on their phone.

I call this The Pressure Loop™.

Pressure → Anxiety → Coping → Relief → Shame → More Pressure.

The problem isn't that people are weak.

The problem is that their nervous system has forgotten how to feel safe.

Gardening gives the brain an opportunity to step out of that cycle.

There Really Is Something In The Soil

I met Hannah, a garden designer at a networking event, and over coffee we started chatting. She is a long time sufferor of anxiety since her early teens and, now in her 30s she's also suffered from post natal depression. Her saving grace was, as hard as it was, getting outside. It would start with standing with her face in the sunshine to getting down on the ground and pulling weeds. Now a busy gardener and garden designer she manages a busy business, family life whilst her anxiety is kept in-check. 

“Being outside, like for lots of people, has always played a role in my life from the time I was small. I just never really thought about how much it was helping until I found it difficult to get up and go outside.” 

“Taking time out, away from my emails or worries helps to quiet the noise. I put my headphones in, put on an audio book, podcast or music and I just do the work. Some of the great things about gardening is that it's never done, if you get it wrong then you just try again and learn. If there is pressure then it comes from ourselves. Nature just appreciates the effort we make to help it, big or small.”

She also told me of a fascinating discovery involving a naturally occurring soil bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae.

Research suggests that exposure to this harmless microorganism may influence the body's immune system in ways that positively affect mood and stress resilience.

In animal studies, exposure to M. vaccae has been linked with reduced stress responses and behaviours associated with anxiety and depression. Scientists believe part of this may involve serotonin pathways—the same chemical messenger often associated with feelings of wellbeing and calm.

Now, to be clear, nobody is saying that digging the garden will cure anxiety or depression, but this definitely resonated with me and the calming effect gardening has on me!

It is just another piece of evidence showing that humans evolved alongside nature, and perhaps our brains still benefit from that connection more than we realise.

Your Brain Was Never Designed For Modern Life

Our ancestors didn't spend ten hours a day looking at screens, checking social media or sitting in meetings or checking notifications every few minutes.

The human brain evolved in natural environments. Being amongst the trees, bathing in rivers, waking to the birdsong and living in harmony with the changing seasons.

Modern neuroscience suggests that spending time in green spaces can reduce cortisol (our primary stress hormone), lower blood pressure and reduce the repetitive negative thinking patterns often associated with anxiety.

Many people describe feeling like they can finally breathe properly after spending an hour in the garden.

It turns out that feeling may be more than just our imagination.

Does Gardening Actually Change Your Brain?

Interestingly, studies looking at brain activity suggest that spending time in natural environments may encourage the brain to produce more alpha brain waves.

Alpha waves are associated with a state of relaxed alertness. It's the sort of state many people try to achieve through meditation, but also when we are in that creative flow state

The absorbing repetitive focus on pulling weeds, planting, watering and pruning occupies your mind just enough to stop overthinking, but not so much that it becomes stressful.

For many people, this creates a natural mindful state without ever having to sit cross-legged on a yoga mat.

Gardening Gives You A Different Kind Of Dopamine

One of the things we know about unhealthy coping habits is that they create huge spikes in dopamine.

The brain loves that quick reward, however the pleasure : pain balance means that after the high comes the crash, and eventually the brain starts craving more.

Gardening works differently.

For me, I love growing tomatoes. You plant them, care for them, watch them grow, notice the first flowers and then the little green tomatoes that bring me such silly delight as I see them ripen. There is such satisfaction in picking and eating something you have invested time an effort to grow

These are smaller, steadier rewards, ones that give you appreciation of effort and help rebuild a healthier relationship with pleasure and achievement.

It's not about replacing addiction with gardening. It's about teaching the brain that calm and satisfaction can come from ordinary life again.

"But I'm Not A Gardener..."

Me neither, I dabbled with various veggies over the covid lockdown – as a lot of us did and was surprised at how much I really got into it. You don't need a huge garden or head to the garden centre and spend a fortune. Hannah has a few tips on how you could get started.

• Grow some herbs on the windowsill.

Mint, basil and rosemary are easy to grow and useful in the kitchen.

• Plant something quick.

Sunflowers, lettuce or radishes give you visible progress quite quickly, which is surprisingly rewarding.

• Spend fifteen minutes outside after work.

Leave your phone indoors and pull a few weeds, water your pots and maybe sweep the patio.

Allow your brain to understand that work has finished.

• Visit a local garden centre.

Even walking amongst plants and greenery can help you slow down.

• Get involved in a community allotment.

You don't just get fresh vegetables—you often gain connection, conversation and a sense of belonging too.

Sometimes The Smallest Things Create the Biggest Changes

Therapy can help change deep subconscious patterns, but there are other ways to support your journey

• Exercise is brilliant for the body. 
• Good nutrition matters.

But sometimes recovery doesn't start with some huge life transformation.

Sometimes it starts with standing outside on a sunny evening, watering a few plants and noticing that, for the first time all day, your shoulders have dropped. Stepping away from pressure, emails, expectations. Just you, the fresh air and something quietly growing.

And perhaps that's exactly what your nervous system has been asking for all along.

Hannah at HS HS Garden Design is plant-led garden design to help you love and connect with your outside space.

HS Garden Design    07478312533    www.hsgardendesign.co.uk @hs_garden_design

References

Foxx CL et al. (2021). Effects of Immunization With the Soil-Derived Bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae on Stress Coping Behaviors and Cognitive Performance. Frontiers in Physiology.

Lowry CA et al. University of Bristol research into soil microorganisms and serotonin pathways.

Twohig-Bennett C, Jones A. (2018). The Health Benefits of the Great Outdoors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Greenspace Exposure.

Chen Z et al. (2022). EEG Changes Associated with Exposure to Natural Environments and Restorative Effects.