When stress, sleep, focus or energy start shifting and the strategies you used to rely on stop working, this podcast helps you understand why and shows you what to do next without spinning your wheels.
Untamed and Unfiltered Wellness is a grounded, no-nonsense podcast for people who want to live well in the real world, busy schedules, demanding jobs, aging bodies and all.
This is practical, integrative wellness for real life, not trends, not hacks and not one-size-fits-all advice.
You’ll walk away with clear insights, usable tools and realistic shifts you can apply immediately so your body and mind feel steadier, more supported and easier to live in.
Hosted by Jo Swensson, Herbalist and Founder of Olivia Bell.
Olivia Bell Co. - Where Modern Life Meets Ancient Roots.
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I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole about Florida landscaping and came out the other side having learned about something called therapeutic horticulture.
Turns out getting your hands in the dirt is backed by an entire field of research, used with veterans, stroke survivors and people in psychiatric care.
In this episode I break down what therapeutic horticulture actually is, why it works and why now (right as fall finally starts giving us relief from the heat) is the perfect time to start planning what you want to grow. No science lecture, I promise. Just dirt, a little humor and a nudge to get outside.
American Horticultural Therapy Association https://www.ahta.org
I hope you find some time today for some peace, some plants and some paws!
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Jo
Speaker
Welcome to Untamed and Unfiltered Wellness, the podcast where we bridge the gap between modern life and ancient roots, cutting through the wellness noise so you can stop guessing and start building a lifestyle that actually works for you. I'm your host, Jo Swensson, herbalist and founder of Olivia Bell.
Speaker
I want us to take a minute and I want us to dream for a second. I want us to dream that it's a cool morning, not cold, just cool enough that when we step outside with our cup of coffee or our tea, it doesn't feel oppressive. Maybe you're like me and you've gone out and put your hands in the dirt. It's a little damp, maybe a little gritty. You're breaking it apart with your fingers because you're getting ready to plant something. Maybe it's lettuce, maybe it's an herb. Maybe you just want to fill the empty pots on your porch after the summer heat killed the previous flower occupants. There's dirt under your nails, there's sun on your shoulders. Your brain, for once, is only thinking about the little patch of dirt in front of you. This could be all of us soon, because fall is coming. Yeah, I know, I know. Depending upon where you're listening from, you might have the benefit of it being fall already. But here in Florida, absolutely not. It's still hotter than hell and the air feels like breathing through a wet towel. This is the time of the year that we start plotting and planning what we're gonna grow the second the weather gives us a break. But there's another reason I want you to think about getting your hands dirty this fall. Because apparently there's a whole entire thing called therapeutic horticulture. And until a few weeks ago, I had no idea it existed. So here's how this episode came to be. I was watching Flip My Florida Yard on YouTube. Yes, it was a show. It's old now, and these are just repeats. But if you haven't figured it out, I live in Florida and I like to know what I can actually grow here versus what's going to die, a slow dramatic death in my yard.
Speaker
So I was going down this rabbit hole, minding my own business. And then in the episode, they mentioned therapeutic horticulture. And I stopped and I said to myself, What in the heck? I'm an herbalist. I've never heard of these things. You would think I would know these things at some point. Something would have been mentioned, but no, it not at all. Plants are my thing. Of course, I did what I normally do and I went down a rabbit hole and started Googling and researching and reading all sorts of peer-reviewed journals and articles and all sorts of stuff. Here's the short version, because I could definitely bore you with all the scientific research, and I'm not going to. There are two things, therapeutic horticulture and horticulture therapy. They are absolutely different. Therapeutic horticulture is kind of what I do, using plants and plant-related activities to support my well-being. And maybe you do that too. It can mean actively planning, propagating, tending, harvesting, even flower arranging, but getting your hands in there. Or it could just mean something a little more passive, like sitting in a plant-filled space and letting nature do its magic on your nervous system.
Speaker
I'm a huge fan of therapeutic horticulture, and I didn't even know it existed. But there's something a lot more intriguing, and that's called horticulture therapy. It sounds like I made that up, but I promise you I didn't. It's actually a clinical intervention run by trained horticulture therapists. These programs are built around specific treatments or rehabilitation goals. There are people with degrees in this that do this for a living. How cool is that? Anyways, if you were in doubt, I just want you to know it's real. It's an established field and not something I made up because I like herbs and tomatoes.
Speaker
If you're curious, there is an organization called the American Horticulture Therapy Association. I'm gonna actually drop the link in the show notes for you if you want to know more. But here's the thing Horticulture Therapy has programs for veterans, older adults, people living with dementia, for people recovering from strokes or those that have Parkinson's, or individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, people under psychiatric care or that are in rehab programs. Hospitals are doing this, botanical gardens are doing this. I mean, I think this is super cool. The University of Florida has an entire therapeutic horticulture program, which again is how I ended up here instead of just watching one more video about mulch.
Speaker
The thing is, gardening isn't just relaxing and nobody just put a fancy name on it. There's a real body of work behind this. And I promise you I'm not gonna go all neuroscience-y here. Our brains are being pulled in 17 directions all the time. Between work, our phones, notifications, making decisions, driving in traffic, the thing you forgot to reply to three days ago. When we work with plants, they're asking something different of us. We're paying attention, yeah, but we're paying attention to the soil, the leaves, whether or not the plant is living, thriving, dying, whatever it is. It's sensory, it's tactile. It pulls us out of our head and into our hands. That's the whole science lecture. That's it. You're welcome.
Speaker
But I want you to really think about that because this is free stuff. We don't have to go spend thousands and thousands of dollars to spend some time in nature. Most of us are hopefully surviving a genuinely brutal summer. And I'm not going to talk about spending a leisurely afternoon in the garden when it's a war zone of heat and mosquitoes, at least it is in my yard.
Speaker
But we are getting closer to fall. And if any part of you has been thinking about a vegetable garden, maybe planting some herbs or repotting flowers for your front porch, now's the time to start figuring out what that's going to look like. Don't go jump on the car and run to the garden center and buy 17 plants and then get mad at me because they died. No, now's the time to plan it. Go look on Pinterest. Go look on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, whatever your medium is. Go look for it. Do a little homework. Find your growing zone. See what actually does well when planted in the fall where you live. Check out how much sun that that space that you're putting these plants are going to get. Maybe reach out to your local cooperative extension office and get some genuinely excellent free resources because they know your climate better than I do, than you do, and better than YouTube does. But in all honesty, the planning can be half the fun. So pick something that actually excites you, whether it's veggies, herbs, flowers, whatever it is. It all counts because you are still growing something. And if you have kiddos at home, this is a great time to get them involved too. Here's what I want you to know.
Speaker
This whole episode existed because I heard two words in a landscaping video. But I got curious. Therapeutic horticulture. Maybe you go look into horticulture therapy and find a program near you. Maybe you have a loved one that can benefit from therapeutic horticulture. But whatever it is, fall down your own rabbit hole and do some research on this. Maybe this is just a nudge that gets you thinking about what you want to plant once the weather finally breaks. But whatever the reason is, next time you get your hands in the soil, I want you to notice how it feels. Not because it's becoming another wellness assignment, because it's actually good for you, because it does change our brains. And maybe you grow something while you're playing in the dirt. If you want to learn more about therapeutic horticulture, I've linked the American Horticulture Therapy Association in the show notes, along with some of what I dug up for this episode.
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If this episode stuck with you today, join our Substat community where we can explore this idea a little bit further. You'll also find some reflection questions, herbal remedies, and a community of like-minded people. It's free to subscribe. The link is in the show notes.
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I hope you make some time today and every day for some peace, some plants, and some paws. Thank you so much for listening to Untamed and Unfiltered Wellness.
