Living with chronic pain, Laura turned to gardening at her local allotment and discovered how working outdoors could strengthen her body and calm her mind.
We’ve all heard the advice that going outside will improve our health, both physically and mentally. It can sound like a simple fix or even an obvious answer, but for Laura Gabriel, it became a solution to an easier life.
Laura has been living with chronic pain for the last seven years, since she had a life-altering accident after being allergic to a medication. She struggled with the isolation and difficulty of everyday activities, such as lifting a half-full kettle or opening a car door. Her chronic pain, paired with her autism, made even the smallest things that many of us take for granted very difficult.
After living with these difficulties, she decided to seek advice on ways to help improve her life. She consulted her doctor and was met with familiar advice – ‘Get outside more!’
Whilst this was something Laura had heard many times, she decided to listen and find a space where she could help soothe her chronic pain and focus her energy.
“For the health stuff, I’d read that it gets prescribed a lot for spinal recovery, and doctors will tell people to garden as physical strength recovery,” she told us.
In Laura’s case, it wasn’t simply adding a few plants to her garden. She sought out a plot at her local allotment and committed to creating a space that would help improve her physical strength, state of mind, and also add some fresh vegetables to her kitchen.
However, her initial search for an allotment took time: “I think I was on the waiting list for maybe six months, and I joined the horticultural society so that I could try and make more contact to accelerate that process, which it did.”
It became a place where she could focus her energy and see positive results quickly. As Laura is also neurodivergent, this has been key.
“I’ve read, we are happiest when we have achievable, short-term goals and achievable, long-term goals. You need something to look forward to and you need to see the rewarding outcome of your efforts,” she said.
“With gardening, you just have both of those things permanently. Especially in an allotment, right? I guess you could have a garden at home and you’re like, ‘I want these things to go here and in a year it will be kind of done,’ but with vegetables, because [they’re] seasonal, you have to change it all the time. It’s never finished.”
The constant movement and mobility of an allotment has been helpful for Laura and her neurodiversity. An allotment space is constantly changing and allows you to move from one thing to the next if you are getting bored or frustrated.
“I get distracted all the time. I lose all my tools, and I can’t stay on one task, but it’s all in the same area. Eventually, you’ve got something to tangibly show for it,” she explains.
“You’ve got the long-term achievable goal that you’re working toward, but then you can have your day’s set of tasks, and when you’ve done them, you can see that you’ve done them. It’s very immediate gratification.”
Laura found that her muscles strengthened quickly after she began working on the allotment: “It’s really quick (the time) I’ve realised it’s partly because you spend a lot of time on the uneven terrain, and that improves your muscle control. [For example] I can do a full squat with flat feet now, I’ve never done that in my life! It’s all functional movement.
“It’s all compound lifting, twisting and stuff in a way that doing things in a gym can’t easily replicate. In any kind of muscle isolating context, you’re just not getting that body effect [like you do] here.”
According to The National Library of Health, the reasons why gardening is so beneficial to health are among those that Laura has begun to experience: “It combines physical activity with social interaction and exposure to nature and sunlight. Sunlight lowers blood pressure as well as increasing vitamin D levels in the summer, and the fruit and vegetables that are produced have a positive impact on the diet.
“Working in the garden restores dexterity and strength, and the aerobic exercise that is involved can easily use the same number of calories as might be expended in a gym. Digging, raking, and mowing are particularly calorie-intense; there is a gym outside many a window.”
Beyond the physical health benefits, the mental clarity that comes with being in nature is clear. Allotments with their shared space and collaborative atmosphere are ideal for fostering community spirit.
Laura has felt this since joining her allotment, “You have that sense of belonging, which is obviously good for the health and mental well-being. [The community] also means you can go away, [and] other people can help you by looking after it.
“[This] is not necessarily a given in every walk of life. Whereas here, they sort of want you to care. Everyone wants [gardening] to be happening more.”
For Laura, being outside, come wind or shine, has given her a new lease on life. Her chronic pain has become manageable, and gardening has strengthened her body in ways she never thought possible.
Even though we’ve heard it all before, for many, the answer may simply be ‘Get outside more!’
Featured image by Evie Allen-Jones.