For many people, even the smallest garden is a source of tasty vegetables, fruits and valuable herbs.However, its role does not end there. What is it and why is it so important?
Hortitherapy (Latin hortus - garden) is treatment with the use of gardens. Already Hippocrates used to say that "nature is a medicine in every disease." The ancients observed the soothing effect of communing with nature. Hortiotherapy, or horticulture, is often practiced completely unconsciously.After a whole day of work, even hard and physically demanding work with plants brings relief, soothing and tranquility.
The main assumption of hortiotherapy is the use of work in the garden for the rehabilitation of disabled people and in personality therapy, including social rehabilitation.Caring for plants and the visible effects of one's own work give a sense of responsibility and control over the tasks entrusted to them, increase self-esteem and self-esteem, reduce nervous tension and distract thoughts from everyday problems. Through hortotherapy, both physical and mental he alth is to be improved. This manifests itself in many ways:
● Physically develop and improve motor skills; sick people have the opportunity to spend more time outdoors.
● In the intellectual field, the vocabulary increases due to the necessity to remember new names.
● In the social field, the sense of belonging to a given community increases through interactions between group members.
● Emotional stress is released, and negative emotions can find an appropriate outlet, the body calms down without the need to administer medications.
That is why it is so important to include the disabled and the sick in gardening.Of course, the degree of their difficulty must be adjusted to the abilities and skills of a given person.
Medicine for everyone
The garden should be a friendly place for everyone, also for children and the elderly. We can get to know it with all our senses, which is especially important in the case of the blind.For the garden to be attractive not only visually, there should be a variety of plants with varying texture of leaves, shoots (hairy, smooth), fragrant or with edible fruit.
An additional advantage in the garden is water in the form of a fountain, stream or cascade, the sound of which is a real honey for your nerves.
Performing even the smallest work can bring unexpectedly a lot of satisfaction.With time, awakening horticultural passions will translate into increased interest in the surrounding natural environment and greater care for nature.
Hortitherapy has been a recognized and popular treatment method in Western Europe and the USA for many years. In Poland, its dissemination is only a matter of time. Contact with nature has a stimulating effect, arouses curiosity, develops personality, and provokes people to leave the house more often.It is worth remembering, because with the expenditure of such small resources you can bring so many positive effects into the lives of sick people.
