It doesn't take research, though, to feel the calming effects of spending time in a garden or in nature—if only to enjoy a refuge from the constant sensory bombardment of urban life. Just being outdoors elicits more awareness of what's around us. Yoga in essence means relationship, and one of those key relationships is between the body and the environment, says Russell Comstock, a Jivamukti Yoga teacher and codirector of the Metta Earth Institute in Lincoln, Vermont. When we step outdoors to do yoga, it's like a portal to a new awareness. A hawk might fly by, or we might feel a breeze on our skin, and it becomes an interactive experience, awakening our senses and opening us up to a deeper understanding.A healing garden needn't be expansive. Some of the most beautiful gardens are just pockets of space, says architect Sarah Susanka, coauthor, with Julie Moir Messervy, of Outside the Not So Big House (The Taunton Press, 2006). You can give the illusion of space by creating layers and textures.
No one knows exactly why gardens have such healing and stress-reducing properties; it seems to be at least partially a primordial reaction wired into our central nervous system. Researchers have found, though, that the more a garden engages the senses, the stronger its ability to distract us from the stressful whirlwind of our thoughts. The gardens that work best are places that facilitate awe and fascination, says Sachs. You want the garden to bring you in touch with yourself and your surroundings at the same time.
Studies back this up. Roger Ulrich, who's with the Center for Health Systems and Design at Texas A&M University, has spent decades documenting the effects of nature on people in health care facilities. He has found that those who have access to a garden experience dramatic drops in stress levels, blood pressure, and pain. Ulrich's research has prompted hospitals, spas, and other care facilities across the country to create therapeutic gardens.