Keeping the Winter Blues at bay — why gardening is good for your mental health.

Hibernation may feel like the antidote to the darker, colder months, but getting outdoors could help reap greater rewards.

I totally get it. Just like that, summer is a distant memory. It’s colder, the clouds are greyer and it’s getting darker, earlier, every day. It goes against every sensible fibre in your body to pull on those wellies and head out into your garden where fallen leaves have turned to mush in the recent rainfall. Fallen fruit has started to rot and the squelch of a crushed apple beneath your foot is much less than savoury. Ugh.

I’ve been there many times. And turned back time after time. Yet today, despite misgivings about what I’m about to do, I feel like pushing myself just a little bit further. The oh so inviting bear hug of hibernation that has been slowly creeping into my bones has actually made me a little stiff and stooped over, both physically and emotionally. Deep inside, I admit the need to stretch. So, with gritted teeth, fleece wear zipped up to my nose and an ever faltering mind, I grab a bucket and start filling it with with the apples that lie strewn across the lawn. There. That’s already tidied up the area under the tree and the path is clearer.

A shy sense of satisfaction spreads across my shoulders as I stand up straight and survey my small but visible accomplishment. That small bout of exercise has made me feel just that tiny bit warmer and braver to withstand the cold a fraction more. In fact, it’s not as cold as I first thought. Hmm. Okay then, I could — perhaps — be enticed to do a little more. A tiny competitive streak stirs inside me, egging me on to better today’s personal best. Those leaves look easy enough to be swept up. What started off gingerly, soon becomes more vigorous and purpose-filled, as I stay firmly in the moment and get the job done. Before I know it, I’ve stretched myself just that little bit more. In a small but significant wave of activity, the pots that lay strewn across the path have been tidied up, the path itself has been swept and those overgrown summer fruiting raspberry canes have been cut down.

Warm and slightly red in the cheeks, I look up and notice that the light from the house looks exceedingly inviting against the greying backdrop of Autumn. Cutting myself some slack I decide to stop for today and go enjoy a nice, hot cup of something. The sense of accomplishment, optimism and confidence is undeniable. I enjoyed that more than I thought I would. The accomplishment was about more than getting out into the garden. It was also to do with overcoming significant inertia to get going. In fact, I’m looking forward to getting out again tomorrow, providing it won’t rain. Or, if it is raining, perhaps I could take a trip to the local gardening centre, you know, just to take a look. After all, the daffodil, tulip and iris bulbs are in stock. And wouldn’t it be lovely to see them bloom in Spring..?

Bad Days

Photo by Alec Douglas on Unsplash

As the seasons change, it’s not unusual to feel a complete change in mood, energy levels and eating patterns, symptoms most commonly associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD. In fact, the symptoms I have suffered from can range anywhere from a certain despondence about something that I can’t quite put my finger on, to irrational irritability about everything. A lack of energy or inertia and a tendency to eat or sleep more (or less) is also very common. The carb cravings are unreal. It was the feeling of apathy towards things I normally love doing that baffled me the most. Curling up on the sofa to enjoy a good book felt sickeningly idealistic when apathy hit hard.

Watching a film with others was okay, but I wanted to be left ‘alone’ to watch it from the safety of the mind’s cocoon. A cartoonist might draw me wrapped tight in a blanket with just my eyes peeping out, with friends and family sitting around me seemingly oblivious to my plight and innocently making merry. You simply couldn’t hug me out of this feeling. Can you relate?

…buoyancy can be both life saving and life affirming. As can our connection with Nature, whichever way you want to do it.

Good Days

Photo by Dan Freeman on Unsplash

I realised I struggled with SAD when I noticed my emotions were completely uplifted on days when the Sun dared to burn through the grey clouds and shine. I simply adore crisp Autumnal or Wintery days against the backdrop of a bright blue sky. Don’t you?! I mean, who doesn’t? I would see-saw from the desperate depths of depression to the soaring heights of non-narcotic induced ecstasy. The elation is similar to how I feel when I’m on a swing in the park swinging higher than my young daughter.

I couldn’t care less how cold it got. In fact, it was a great excuse to wrap up warm, wear the fluffiest, warmest scarf, hat and gloves, go for a walk and kick up some leaves in a park somewhere. Hyde Park in the Autumn is a firm favourite. And allow me a vanity filled moment as I remember just how gorgeous and conditioned my hair feels against the cold weather, it behaves like a dream. My warm, brown complexion is temptingly warm. Kiss me.

I’m smiling as I type. The memory of this feeling is just so good in comparison to the darker days. I’m sure I can’t be the only one to feel this way.

A happy medium — Nature’s tonic

Experiencing the tremendous highs of happiness every single day in a challenging season is exhausting and frankly, unsustainable. Dare I say, though fun, it’s probably unnecessary. However, most would agree it is an easier state of mind to live in. Through trial, error and triumph, I’ve found that getting out into the ‘big outdoors’ is at least one very good way to maintain a certain buoyancy which keeps you ticking by, happier, lighter, till Daylight Saving hours return to our lives. And buoyancy can be both life-saving and life-affirming. As can our connection with Nature, whichever way you want to do it.