10/10/2026
GET YOUR HANDS IN THE SOIL
🌱💚 This Mental Health Awareness Day, make a little time to step outside, breathe deeply and reconnect with the living world beneath your feet. Spending a little time in the garden helps you feel calmer, brighter and more content.
Gardening gives us gentle movement, fresh air, sunlight and a reason to pause and focus on the present moment. Research has shown that gardening can help lower cortisol following stress and restore a more positive mood.
Fascinating research into the microorganisms found in healthy soil is being done by scientists who are exploring how certain harmless soil microbes may interact with our immune system and serotonin-related pathways linked to mood and stress resilience. There is still much to discover, but perhaps getting our hands dirty is doing far more for us than simply helping our gardens grow.
Learn more: https://idepfoundation.org/soil-microorganisms-scientifically-proven-to-benefit-mental-health/