| IVL Products Health Watch - Gardens Provide A Little Bit Of Heaven On Earth |
| The Official IVL Products Health Blog |
Dear Reader,
"The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth, one
is nearer to heaven in a garden than anywhere else on earth. " Anybody
who has every experienced the physical, emotional and spiritual
well-being that gardening provides clearly understands the meaning of
that age-old rhyme.
Gardening connects us to nature and provides us with fresh fruits and
vegetables and the encouragement to eat them. In addition, it provides
improved flexibility, stronger muscles and better cardio fitness.
Regular physical exercise such as that associated with gardening has
been shown to help prevent heart disease, obesity, adult-onset diabetes
and high blood pressure.
Gardening can be especially beneficial for people with special needs or
those who are recovering from an illness. Gardening promotes an
increased range of motion, develops hand-eye coordination and improves
motor skills. Over the past few years special tools have made gardening
more accessible to people with limited mobility.
And the benefits are not all physical. There's a whole field of
practice called horticultural therapy, which explores the way that
gardening helps people heal, physically and emotionally. Horticultural
therapists have discovered that gardening provides a form of emotional
expression and release, and it helps people to connect with others.
A very interesting study conducted by the University of Colorado
surveyed how gardening, when used in prison systems, can have profound
positive impacts. The study provided master gardeners to several
prisons, who taught the inmates how to prepare and maintain a garden.
Some of the quotes from inmates who participated in the study include:
* "It helped me to start caring about life. I'm more relaxed and
see how living things are very fragile and need to be nurtured."
* "We can be indifferent or even cruel and mean and destroy life
or we can help life and take care of it. I guess people are not much
different than daisies. We need care, nurturing and balance in our
lives."
* "I have learned to deal with people as people instead of
overpowering them or manipulating them as some sort of object to
satisfy my wants. I have learned what it feels like to care about
something."
* "I have a feeling of peace that I have never experienced. I was
abused as a child so I never learned how to nurture anything. Now I am
learning and it is very powerful. It has made a very positive
difference in my life."
During the past few years, there has been an increased awareness in the
restorative value of plants in hospitals, homes for the aged and senior
centers. In such places many "healing gardens" are being constructed
for clients, staff and visitors. Even corporate America is now
including landscape considerations in its philosophy. Business owners
have found that having trees and plants nearby increases productivity
and morale and helps recruit new employees.
Economically speaking, gardening is within everybody's reach. Growing
your own vegetables is very inexpensive. Other than adding soil, buying
some tools, watering and purchasing seeds or pre-grown plants, the cost
is extremely minimal.
For an increasing number of people, a home garden provides an escape
from the pressures of the job and family responsibilities. As Minnie
Automonier put it: "When the world wearies and society ceases to
satisfy, there is always the garden."
Yours in good health,
Sheila McCormick
Editor, IVL Health Watch
|
Visit our Health Forum and ask a question of one of the country's leading experts in nutritional medicine. |
| Dr.
Mikles is a Board Certified Internist, and is the Medical Director of
Choices Integrative Healthcare Clinic in Sedona, Arizona. For more than
30 years, Dr. Mikles has been engaged in the study and practice of the
therapeutic effects of diet and nutrition, making him one of the
country's leading experts. |
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