W H A T I S H A P P E N I N G?

Every bit of research I'm doing regards being outdoors and gardening in general is quite literally mimicking my own experiences of helping on my parent's allotment.

This concept is now turning into quite a personal one. With the research on horticultural therapy and the insane amount of benefits one can gain from engaging with nature and even just being outdoors is fantastic, for me means I can really enjoy this project and any of the possible design outcomes knowing that I started with the thought of wanting to be able to work with nature, and now all the research is allowing me to do bloody just that.

So far, in relation to the benefits of gardening and being surrounded by nature apart from the obvious of the physical benefits of gardening as it can be labour intensive depending on the type of garden or allotment you're maintaining, the mental benefits are amazing.

Now that I've presented my ' FURTHER RESEARCH ' presentation I've had time to ponder over these benefits and write about them a bit more.Starting with my own experiences, I found I became a lot calmer. It sounds odd, but all during the summer and early autumn months I found myself more at peace with my own health conditions and what the world has thrown at me over the last two years. Even the colours I was/am still attracted to were mimicking my mental state. What that means is that I was attracted to shades of green and blues, which in psychological terms mean my mind was at ease and reflected a state of inner peace.

When I was on the allotment and taking care of my section, even the house plants, I found myself entering what I can only describe as a state of bliss. Not a single thought would go through my head that wasn't positive, any stress I had and the anxiety I had been suffering with earlier in the year had certainly dwindled an extreme amount.
When I discussed this newfound mental state with my parents and their friends who also own and tend to allotments they was a majority agreement that the allotment and the act of interacting with nature certainly, for us, provided an escape from stress and everyday worries that has had a lasting effect on our psyches.

In fact, even Bord Bia back up this concept stating

"The psychological impact of gardening is that it is considered a serene occupation, an oasis of calm, a grounding experience. The combination of the fresh air and the physicality of the tasks helps oxygenate the bloodstream and energizes the physical body while simultaneously releasing endorphins involved with stress alleviation. Numerous scientific studies validate the calming effect of the garden by showing findings that reveal simply being in a garden lowers blood pressure."
 -Bord Bia


Such impacts on the physical and mental state from horticultural therapy has been studied since the 60's, YET, people still continue to disconnect themselves from nature, not having enough in the house or work environments to not even exercising outdoors when 21st century aliments could be banished through establishing a better connection with nature.  This point right here, is what I'm using to direct my project, and is WHY I'm trying to introduce nature into the modern work environment to alleviate the modern aliments of and improve the harsh office environments of 9-5ers.