When was the last time you touched grass?
Literally speaking.
If you’re honest with yourself, it’s been too long.
Hey, no judgement here. You’re already out there doing the most: you’ve got that pesky day job, fur babies or actual kiddos that might be demanding your care and attention, a home to maintain, friendships and family you devote time and energy to, hobbies to keep up with, and that one thing on your to-do list you’ve been putting off for weeks. Talk about a full plate!
Because of the absolute chaos of our schedules and go-go-go nature of American hustle culture, it’s no wonder most of us would rather drink our green drinks, take our vitamins, and sporadically go to pilates class than spend time outdoors in an active or mentally present way.
You do what you can with the energy you have. If that means spending more time under fluorescent lights surrounded by white washed office walls or in front of screens, so be it… right?
You’re exhausted. Sure, you know it’s good to get outside, but it’s not really a priority. The saying “go touch some grass” is cute and catchy, but you’ve got other things to worry about.
There’s the problem: worry.
If you’ll tolerate a fourth wall break for a moment, I’m getting tense just thinking about all the things you might have going on in your life!
Our bodies don’t experience all of this in an isolated way. The things on your mind also manifest in your body. When you’re particularly happy, you might do a little dance or bounce up and down. Stress looks like tense muscles, poor posture, bad sleep, soreness, and even changes in your appetite. Chronic stress is a regular cause of inflammation, which just exacerbates the whole situation.
If there was an easy cure-all to your woes, you would’ve done it already. That said, nature always has our backs. In this case, science and nature do offer us some relief!
What is Green Drenching?
In a trend that’s taking the internet world by storm, Green Drenching is the intersection of color therapy, psychology, and the beauty of nature. Green drenching is the practice of saturating a space in green and plants, specifically with regard to natural elements, to create a place of both conscious and subconscious peace.
It’s not just about the color green.
Before you sprint to your local home improvement store for green paint, keep reading. Green drenching is about more than just saturating a space in green. It’s about reintroducing nature into our concrete jungles.
You can green drench any space - truly, any space. Your patio, the wall of a restaurant, the side of a building… The possibilities are endless. The key isn’t furniture or paint; it’s plants.
We’re not talking about putting a succulent on your office desk and a peace lily in that one corner. When we say “drench,” we really mean “saturate:” Plants everywhere, natural light, and a phenomenally serene atmosphere.
Why should I Green Drench?
Have you ever spent hours or days in a space without windows? Exactly… It’s rough, to say the least.
Study after peer reviewed study has found that exposure to nature (“touching grass”) is critical to our mental health and wellbeing. You don’t even have to go outside, although that is strongly recommended by experts. Being around plants and greenery is enough to help your body and mind reap the benefits of the natural outdoor experience.
1. Stress Reduction (This is a BIG One)
Once again, science unilaterally concludes that time spent in verdant nature is one of the key ways you reduce your stress on a cellular level.
When you’re stressed, your body produces high amounts of cortisol, which directly increases muscle tension and your heart rate. It’s the caveman part of our body that thinks it’s about to be eaten, so cortisol kicks in with a fight or flight response.
Even when we aren’t in mortal peril, the little stressors of our day to day lives trigger smaller scale releases of cortisol. Chronically elevated cortisol levels do less than ideal things to our bodies, so it’s worth making an effort to give your body a break.
Green is a color we associate with money, luck, renewal/rebirth, health, and safety. Like it or not, you’re psychologically hardwired to feel at ease around green. Before you dismiss this as some hippy-dippy wackadoodle pseudoscience, there’s significant evolutionary support for this phenomenon.
Let’s go back to our caveman ancestor; we’ll call him “Grug.” When Grug finds a spot with plant life, he’s likely to hang out there for a while. Thriving plant life equals easy access to food to forage and hunt, as well as water to drink, shelter from the elements, and even protection from predator animals. Grug has what he needs to fuel his body and protect himself from the environment, so he’s much more likely to live to see another day. To Grug, a green environment literally means survival.
We like to think we’re far more sophisticated than Grug because of our technology and science. Unfortunately for us, the vestigial functions from our caveman days are not as far removed from our lived experiences as we’d like to think. At the end of the day, humans are just animals with instincts. Our draw to greenery and the security it offers us on a subconscious level is no exception.
Moral of the story: embrace your inner caveman. Go get the jungle’s worth of houseplants and the can of green paint.
Grug will thank you later.
2. Mood Boost and Better Mental Health
When your body isn’t producing cortisol like a bear is about to eat you, it’s really easy to relax. A relaxed person is far more open to joy, accepting experiences that allow for the expression of creativity and happiness. Less stress = happier, healthier you. It’s vacation logic.
Have you forgotten about cortisol yet? Elevated levels of the hormone are also linked to increased incidences of mental illness, like anxiety and depression. While hanging out in a garden won’t cure your depression or rid you of anxiety, studies show people with regular exposure to nature see a statistically significant reduction in the severity of their symptoms.
3. Increased Attention Span
If you’ve glazed over after less than a minute of skimming this blog, it’s okay. We get it.
Our society and proximity to technology forces our brains to constantly pursue the next hit of dopamine. It’s a bit of a biological hijacking, and it’s not fair.
There is hope! The most up to date research demonstrates that while yes, technology sabotages our attention span, our attention spans are also malleable. It’s absolutely possible to expand your attention span, just as much as it’s possible to shrink it. Brains are cool like that.
Taking time to step away from technology and an internet world that resets trends every few seconds actively retrains your brain to enjoy slowing down. The key is consistency, so the more you practice being present in nature, the less you’ll find yourself doom scrolling on Instagram.
Now go hug a tree. Your brain (and your weekly screen time report) will thank you!
4. Higher Quality Sleep
Everyone is exhausted these days, and with everything going on in the world, there’s plenty to keep you up at night.
But, if you’re managing your stress, giving yourself the opportunity to be in happier, relaxed moods, and staying off your phone, you’re naturally going to see an improvement in your quality of sleep. You’ll pick up a book before bed instead of scrolling for hours. Your cortisol levels won’t have your body feeling wired when you’re trying to sleep.
Consider green drenching your bedroom. If the whole room isn’t your speed, pick a wall! Bring in the pothos, the snake plants, the peace lilies, air plants, and monstera - or whichever plants suit your style. What better place to pursue peace than your place of rest?
What space will you green drench?
Tag us on social media in your photos - we’d love to cheer for you!
(Then put your phone away and enjoy nature’s beauty!)
