Gardening Therapy
As I’ve explored in my previous blog posts, gardening has a ton of health benefits. Not only does it provide food and self-satisfaction, it’s good for your body and mind. Gardening reduces stress, decreases depression, lowers blood pressure, and lowers cholesterol (Shaw, 42).
On our second day, we arrived at small family-run farm called Finca La Chiquita. We served a couple and their little girl by helping build a green house and gardening. My group helped mix a giant mound of organic fertilizer, which comprised cow manure, charcoal, coconut shells, and rice husks. Charcoal helps the soil store more nutrients and decreases the nutrients lost with water. Plus, charcoal helps the soil hold moisture, which improves its structure and reduces possible erosion. The coconut shells and rice husks take up space for the manure and the charcoal to do their magic while letting water filter through the soil. We learned that this type of soil doesn’t attract bugs and fungi, it’s cheaper than buying it at the store, and it’s sustainable because it doesn’t have any additives.
Along with the exercise I got from shoveling heaps of soil, I also felt happy to help out the family. While my stronger friends helped with the green house, I imagined how long it would’ve taken them to complete the structure and their gardening tasks without the help of 20 students. What we got done in several hours would’ve taken them several days. This feeling of selflessness accompanied with exercise and chats among friends dramatically lowered my anxiety and filled my heart with joy.
Nature-Guided Therapy
Outside of a formal therapy program, nature-guided therapy simply means engaging with nature. Like in my previous blog posts, nature is a great resource for metaphors, contemplative thinking, and mysterious beauty. One day we went on a true ecotour: a night hike in a small yet very biodiverse rainforest. By tuning my senses and focusing on nature, I felt happier and more relaxed. Sight: Seeing the endangered red-eyed tree frogs, tropical butterflies, and lurking caymens made me happy. I was ecstatic that I got to see the rainforest in person rather than online or on t.v. Sound: Hearing nature was the best part of the entire trip. The rainforest has a large amount of musicians–the katydids, the frogs, the birds, the trees in the wind, the rain drops on the plants. Each tiny insect had a story, and although we got photos, we’ll only know that glimpse of their life. Touch: I held a couple frogs in my palm, gently brushed a sleeping butterfly’s wing, and petted a caterpillar’s back. In his book Nature and Therapy, Martin Jordan believes that the sense can help produce a greater connection to the environment (Jordan, 64).
Climate and Health
Once I stepped foot outside of the Costa Rican airport, I noticed one thing: the weather. It’s hot, it’s humid, and the sky frequently shifts from sunshine to clouds filled with rain. Like Houston and Austin, Costa Rica’s weather was unpredictable. Before the trip, my weather-mood hypothesis was that weather extremities (very cold or very hot temperatures, heavy rainfall, frequently cloudy skies) would affect mood negatively. After the trip, I researched a few ways that the Costa Rican weather impacted my mood.
Sunshine. I’m the type of person that loves the outdoors, yet seems to find herself stuck inside typing away on her laptop or mindlessly watching t.v. I was stoked to go to Costa Rica and have fun outdoors. The sunshine in Costa Rica was almost magical. The way it filtered through the rainforest trees, the way it carried the sweat on my skin. As we journeyed into areas with higher elevation and cooler temperatures, the sunlight had a positive impact on my mood. It was only until I was subjected with humidity and direct, constant sunlight that I became grumpy.
Many studies examined how sunshine can improve mood and even combat depression symptoms. In response to moderate sun exposure, the body produces vitamin D and boosts the immune system, which fights infections and diseases (Klimstra, 1). The sun’s ultraviolet radiation (UVR) also enhances the body’s supply of endorphins, or the “feel-good” hormone. Unlike my daily routine of remaining indoors, I got a lot of sun exposure on my trip. Fun fact: the benefits of sunlight can’t reach your skin through glass, so now I’ve been opening up windows and taking short walks. Unfortunately, even with great benefits, extreme or excessive exposure to sunlight may result in sunburns, some skin cancers, and other skin damages. Thanks to my Neutrogena sports sunscreen, I only got tiny sunburn on the last day at the beach.
Humidity. Even though I lived in the humid-haven Houston all my life, I found the Costa Rican humidity even more uncomfortable. My friends and I joked about how we always felt damp and sticky. In all honesty, the humidity made us a bit miserable. In the classic Howard and Hoffman (1984) study, humidity increased sleepiness and decreased elation and concentration. They noted that humidity is often paired with sunshine, which increased elation.
Citations
Howarth, E. & Hoffman, M.S. (1984). A Multidimensional Approach to the Relationship Between Mood and Weather. British Journal of Psychology, 75(1), 15-23.
Jordan, Martin. Nature and Therapy: Understanding Counselling and Psychotherapy in Outdoor Spaces. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Klimstra, T. A., Frijns, T., Keiisers, L., Denissen, J. A., Rajimakers, Q. W., Van Aken, M. G., … & Meeus, W. J. (2011). Come rain or come shine: Individual differences in how weather affets mood. Emotion, 11, 1595-1499.
Mead, M. Nathaniel. “Benefits of Sunlight: A Bright Spot for Human Health.” Environ Health Perspect Environmental Health Perspectives 116.4 (2008): n. pag. Web.
Shaw, Eva. Shovel It: Nature’s Health Plan. Carlsbad, CA: Writeriffic Pub. Group, 2001. Print.