Reap the Awesome Benefits of Indoor Gardening to Manage Your Stress

by Brenna Liebold

>> Take Me Straight to the Freebie <<

As a musician, I love rhythm. It energizes music by moving it forward and organizes it into the patterns of pulses you clap, bob, and tap to.

You'll find rhythm in anything with a repeating pattern, cycle, beat, or movement. I live in Wisconsin, and one of my favorite rhythms establishes the predictable cycle of seasons.

Although winter brings a beautiful, white ground cover, it also slowly pushes me in a restless direction when temperatures drop too low to go outside and do anything fun. White and brown, admittedly, start to look drab after enough overcast days. Placing plants in windows around the house cuts through the lack of color out there, but I feel an urge to dig into the plants.

Since becoming a homeowner, I have discovered a love of gardening I never bothered to explore before. Sitting in my patch of lemon thyme, picking weeds with bare fingers, and running my hand over the creepers to release their sweet, lemony scent induces a sense of calm. The dance-like movement of pluck-toss-breathe as I pick out the weeds takes on a mesmerizing quality of its own.

Creeping lemon thyme (Thymus citriodorus) release a mouth-watering scent reminiscent of Lemonhead candies.

Some gardeners say they love the "peace" and "quiet" they find in their garden, but I don't hear peace or quiet at all. I hear movement of tree branches and leaves in the breeze and birdsongs from every direction. In my backyard, I strategically placed wind chimes of very specific pitches to create an idyllic, natural symphony that washes over me when I work in the dirt.

​Listen to a sample of the music in my backyard, which makes something as seemingly mundane as picking weeds a complete sensory experience.

Benefits of Gardening

It turns out that studies on gardening support its reputation for easing stress, anxiety, and depression. The soil itself improves mood through the release of serotonin triggered by tiny microbes called mycobacterium vaccae. They most commonly enter the body through inhalation or cuts on your hands when you stir up the dirt. The boost in mood from these little critters lingers long after a gardening session ends and with no known negative side effects.

Natural light also plays a part in decreasing the impact of stress. Although sunlight increases the amount of serotonin in the body, it more importantly increases melatonin production and ensures its release at the perfect time for optimal sleep. A good night's sleep helps you recover from and manage stress better.

The effects of nature, in general, cannot go ignored. The great outdoors appear to set off an instinctive relaxation response. You don't need to physically go outside to benefit, either. Placing plants in your indoor environment and looking at nature pictures or videos reduce stress as well.

For a tropical oasis in the corner of your living room, try a Madagascar dragon tree (Dracaena marginata).

Bringing the Gardening Experience Indoors

Since I live in Wisconsin, the climate only offers about four to five months of decent outdoor gardening time during the year. I needed to find other ways to satisfy my gardening urges. How can you reap the benefits of gardening when you don't have access to outdoor space due to climate or living accommodations?​​

•  Keep Potted Plants Indoors
  Many plants thrive indoors with minimal effort from you, even in less-than-ideal light levels. My Madagascar dragon tree plant (Dracaena marginata) shows no signs of slowing down after more than ten years in my care and some unavoidable, minor abuses. It survived a trip in the car traveling at freeway speeds during a move in which the plant rode in the passenger seat sticking out through the sunroof. Along with the dragon tree plant, some of the easiest plants to keep alive include Philodendron, spider plants, air plants, and succulents.
  
  Knowing that plants need sunlight means picking spots around your home with good access to it, which also means you'll get sunlight, too, as you care for and admire them. In case you live in a location that legitimately lacks the natural sunlight needed to keep both you and your plant happy, I offer an exciting but seemingly little-known truth. The same products that provide UV-free, broad-spectrum light to improve Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, promote healthy plant growth as well. Similar to humans, plants receive more harm than benefit from the ultraviolet light often used in dedicated plant lights. In fact, plants contain special pigments in their "skin" for UV protection. No need to buy separate lights for you and your plants!
  
  Plenty of plants present the opportunity for more advanced gardening skills with a level of immersion similar to outdoor gardening. Great rewards literally bloom when you start new plants from established ones by way of taking "cuttings" from, harvesting, or splitting plants such as Philodendron and hens and chicks. They make great gifts, too.​​

Consider Hens and Chicks (Sempervivum tectorum) if you want an easy-to-grow houseplant.

• ​Get Real Dirt(y)
  To maximize relaxation from indoor gardening, harness the power of mood-altering mycobacterium vaccae. Unfortunately, commercial potting soil probably won't contain much, if any. Try to find a source of organic fertilizer or compost, and mix it with the potting soil. Better yet, get some dirt from outside somewhere, anywhere; and it will likely contain the bacteria you want. Even frozen ground, once thawed, should yield a thriving colony of the target bacteria. 
  
  After obtaining the proper soil, the next step in taking advantage of mycobacterium vaccae requires a quick and simple process. Gently poke a hole about every inch or two in your plant's soil with a chopstick or wooden shish kabob skewer prior to every other watering. You end up aerating the soil and releasing the feel-good bacteria.
  ​
• Create Auditory Ambience
  If you enjoy the "music" of the outdoors as much as I do, feel free to bring it indoors with the rest of your gardening. I recommend hanging wind chimes  from a plant hanger that screws into your ceiling or wood framing, but check the weight of your wind chimes and the limit on the hanger to make sure the hanger and mounting surface will handle the load safely. The bigger the wind chimes, the lower the pitches they will produce, and the more relaxed you will feel. Opt for ones made of hollow metal, which create a sustained, mellow sound quality. These wind chimes may cost more than little tinny ones, but they should last a decade or longer. Ultimately, you need to find a set of wind chimes that sounds pleasant to you, especially in your indoor space. By habit, I used to touch the wind chimes whenever I walked past them in the room, and it always made me smile.
  
  Options for birdsongs and other nature sound recordings continue to grow, due to their increased popularity in recent years. A search for nature meditation or relaxation CD's or downloadable/live streaming tracks should yield choices galore.

Go for It, and Make Today a Great Day!

With no bad time of year to start indoor gardening, head to your local gardening supply store and explore what kinds of plants they stock, price out your budget, and begin planning. The planning phase builds excitement before finally jumping into your new relaxation hobby. Don't feel pressured to create and care for an expansive indoor garden all at once, either. Bring home one plant at a time to ensure a comfortable balance between responsibility and enjoyment.

Cascading Philodendron loves an elevated perch.

Check out these helpful resources on indoor gardening, all of which I have consulted at some point in my gardening adventures:
Plant Parenthood 101

Plant Safety for Pets

Growing Spider Plants

10 Things Nobody Tells You About Air Plants

How to Propagate Plants Even If You're a Beginner
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How to Re-Plant Hens and Chicks

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