Therapeutic Gardening for Children with Cancer
Gardening is becoming increasingly popular across the world as more people try it out and discover the part of them that enjoys connecting with nature and tending to plants. There’s something almost magical about tending to plants or vegetables, and then watching them grow and develop.
Today, a new form of gardening has emerged: horticultural therapy. It was discovered that gardening has many therapeutical benefits, as will be expounded upon below. Especially for children and adults going through the challenge of cancer (and their families), gardening can be soothing, grounding, and healing.
Here are some benefits of horticultural therapy:
- Grounding- Gardening connects you to the earth. For children suffering from cancer, getting their hands dirty with the earth brings a sense of calm and serenity because it helps them dispel their fears and other difficult emotions.
- Purpose—Planting small seeds and nurturing them until they grow into something big gives sick children a strong sense of purpose. When they’re too ill to help others, nurturing the ground gives them a sense of importance and a will to go on.
- Exercise—Children with cancer often lack the will to exercise. They may be too sick to get out of bed sometimes, and even when they can get up, they may feel no desire to exercise even a minimal amount. Gardening allows them to build their weakened muscles and release the endorphins associated with physical activity, making them feel better.
- Reduces stress—Gardening has been proven to lower blood pressure and alleviate stress. Being outdoors is healthy because we breathe more deeply there, and our stress levels decrease in natural environments.
- Private time- The lives of children- specifically teenagers- with cancer are very public. In a hospital, they rarely get some personal space and privacy. Visitors may be constant, which is oftentimes appreciated but sometimes overwhelming. Gardening allows children with cancer to relax and enjoy some time alone in a peaceful environment.
- Boosts self-esteem- Many children with cancer feel like failures because they believe they are the cause of their parent’s stress, their sibling’s sadness, and overwhelm for their entire family. When they witness fruits and vegetables that they planted and nurtured growing out of the ground, they feel a sense of accomplishment, which helps to lift their self-esteem.
Zichron Menachem is an organization in Israel that supports children with cancer under the age of 21 and their families. Our goal is to help every child with cancer and their closest family members get through the difficult illness with support, fun experiences, and the necessary therapeutic intervention. We strongly believe that sick children (and their families) need to be in an emotionally healthy place to have a reason to live and fight their debilitating illnesses.
