Get Your Hands Dirty in a Garden to Boost Your Mental Health
One of the best things about working outside in a garden is the visibility of the results. You can see your hard work pay off as flowers bloom. But there’s another benefit, one that is just as real but less obvious to the eye: Gardening supports your mental health. Experts from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will teach a workshop on wellness in the garden this month that will share tips on reducing stress and anxiety through gardening.
Stretch Your Body and Relax Your Mind with Yoga in the Garden
Exercise can sometimes feel like a chore. You know it’s good for you, and you’re always glad you’ve done it, but it can seem like yet another obligation. But what if exercising wasn’t a burden but rather a treat? That’s what yoga in the Garden offers, says yoga instructor Edwina Taylor. “The Garden is so peaceful and invigorating. You feel the breeze and the warmth of the sun. And it’s so relaxing to be outside moving and breathing.”
Experience Food in a New Way While Foraging Texas
Today we have a pretty clear idea where our food comes from: the grocery store. Of course, we know that food is actually grown and raised on farms, but most Americans today have spent little to no time at a farm or ranch. True, some keep a garden, raise backyard chickens or hunt, but for the majority of us, food comes from the store and is wrapped in plastic. Author Eric Knight would like to change that. He encourages Texans to get outside and find their food by foraging for the edible plants. Knight will introduce foraging with a book talk and signing on March 26 at the Garden.
Build a Strong Foundation for Your Garden By Focusing on Soil
Many people give little thought to the soil under their feet. It’s just dirt, after all. But gardeners know that healthy soil is essential to healthy plants. If you’re looking to up your gardening game this year, invest in your soil.
Start the New Year with Plants Grown from Seed, Save Money
It’s true that in a few months you’ll be able to walk into a garden center or home improvement store and find row upon row of vegetables ready for you to transplant into your garden. But there’s a certain magic to growing plants from seed, not to mention opportunities to save money and grow exactly what you want.
Take a Deep Breath to Manage Holiday Stress
We are deep into the holiday season, and could there be anything more wonderful—or more stressful? Most Decembers are accompanied by angst over gift shopping, budget balancing, house decorating, party going, cookie baking and family gathering. But 2021 has its own special flavor of stress. We’re here to tell you it’s all going to be okay. Just take a deep breath. We mean it. Take a deep breath. Simply by slowing down your breathing, you can reduce stress during the holidays and every day after.
Unplug and Unwind by Practicing “Shinrin-Yoku,” aka Forest Bathing
Contemporary life is full of millions of stimuli fighting for your attention. We are bombarded with alerts, notifications, pop-ups and announcements. Contrast this type of frantic living with the peaceful experience of being within nature. Trees and flowers demand nothing of you. You are free to notice what you want, or simply to be. This experience has been given a name in Japan. It is called “shinrin-yoku,” which translates to “forest bathing,” using “bathing” to mean immersing yourself within something. The term was introduced in Japan in the 1980s to encourage people to disconnect from technology and spend time outdoors.
Explore the Power of Place with Landscape Artist Deborah Paris
When artist and author Deborah Paris began making daily visits to Lennox Woods, a pristine old-growth forest in northeast Texas, she noticed something changed in her relationship with the land.
“I formed a connection with the place,” says Paris. “I began to feel like I was a part of the place—I wasn’t just looking at it anymore. The landscape became part of me.”