– Mehnaz Altaf, Singapore
“It’s only because I spend time with the plants in my garden every day that I’ve been able to write the books I have!”
Nath gave this incredible answer when the interviewer, out of curiosity, asked, “Nath, if you had spent all those hours writing instead of in the garden, just imagine how many more wonderful books we would have!”
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Nobel prize-winning Buddhist monk and author. While his answer may sound enigmatic, both research and this ancient philosophy remarkably stand hand in hand.
Even if we dismiss Nath’s cryptic remark, scientists have taken this quite seriously. They selected eighty patients whose thyroid glands had been removed. Naturally, these patients were not in the best of moods after losing an organ, and they were also dealing with pain. But the scientists chose this very group to observe how greenery would affect them post-operation.
It was found that those whose rooms had flowers and plants recovered faster and needed less painkillers. Meanwhile, the other group was discharged later, required more painkillers, and had a lower mood overall. It’s only natural to wonder: How exactly did the plants do this? Did they really do anything at all?
I’ll get to that answer in a moment. But first, let me raise another point. The question is: what is the similarity between a post-operative patient and a person with depression? Have you noticed it, dear reader?
The similarity is suffering.
For a patient in agony after surgery, pain is the only reality; everything else feels intangible. Similarly, in depression, the mind plays only negative thoughts on loop, tuning the sufferer out of the rest of the world.
This is exactly where gardening brings its therapeutic effect. When a negative mind gets busy with garden tasks, it unconsciously enters a world of flowers, leaves, birds, colors, scents, and sounds. As a result, those relentless negative thoughts are paused, we relax, stress levels drop, and we start to emerge from depression.
The scientific explanation traces back to ancient times. Our ancestors were once hunters and gatherers—finding colorful fruits in the jungle would bring them joy. That memory is still carried in our DNA. So the various colorful fruits, flowers, and birds awake that ancient memory within us. It triggers feelings of happiness and releases dopamine. Dopamine is a hormone that lifts our mood.
There’s more: when we touch soil in the garden, we encounter a bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae. Research shows that both soil and this bacterium cause the brain to release a hormone called serotonin—often called the ‘happy hormone’. As soon as serotonin is released, the mind feels better.
Moreover, the garden is the best place to practice mindfulness. If you start noticing every tiny detail slowly and mindfully, worries quickly disappear.
For these reasons, the patients surrounded by plants and flowers in that hospital recovered more quickly. When the mind is happy, stress hormones decrease, and illnesses retreat faster.
So, to keep your mood up, stay healthy, and fight depression, gardening can be a wonderful natural medicine.
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