Music and Gardening: Soothing the Soul with Melodies and Soil

Immersed in the music

Whenever I'm feeling down, I skip the candy I've already collected and head straight to a Beatles album. At that moment, I sing along, completely absorbed in the music. Even though I'm struggling with some cravings, those cravings disappear after I've sung a song or two. When I'm feeling down, I sing certain songs (like "Yesterday"), especially songs that excite me (like "Love Me"). A good song makes me feel better than a massage.

------Judy

Some music can transform sadness into joy, frustration into calm, and anger into happiness within minutes. Ballads have a therapeutic effect. Remember that moment when you heard a song that accurately expressed your emotions. Recognizing that others feel the same way you do, and can accurately understand your feelings, is a wonderful thing. Music can also block your negative thoughts. For example, uplifting music can direct your consciousness in a more positive direction.

Music not only calms your mind but also affects your body. Music offers numerous therapeutic benefits because it influences the brain in many complex ways. Certain types of music can enhance memory, improve mood, reduce stress, alleviate pain, and improve interpersonal relationships. You can tell if a song is soothing by your breathing; when you hear such music, your breathing slows down. Music therapists have also found that the heart muscle's movement is synchronized with the rhythm of music. The rhythm of classical music often resembles the average resting heart rate, approximately 70 beats per minute. Therefore, listening to calming music can help slow your heart rate when you are anxious. Upbeat music can stimulate your heart rate and sometimes even accelerate your overall nervous system.

Self-soothing techniques: Returning to comforting melodies

Play some music for at least 20 minutes, or continuously, to soothe your entire body. Do you know what kind of music suits you? Listening to your favorite music (or classical music) is better at reducing negative emotional states and physiological arousal than not listening to music at all or listening to heavy metal. If you're a heavy metal fan, you might want to avoid it when stressed. Alternatively, when you tend to eat out due to stress, you can choose your favorite genre of music, which can help distract you.

If you're a musician, that's fine too. When you're not hungry and want to eat, you're playing your instrument, so you don't have the opportunity to look for food.

Create a music playlist. Generally, a playlist mixes fast and slow songs. However, songs of similar tempos might be more helpful for you. If you don't feel calm during a song, you might start to feel calm when the next song starts.

If you want to pay more attention to your feelings, you can try listening to instrumental music. Such music can help you calm down. Sometimes, musical lyrics can prevent you from listening to your own thoughts.

Energetic music is very effective for bored eaters. Dancing gets your body moving.

Do some gardening

Digging in the soil with my hands is very therapeutic. I work in an office, so I don't have the chance to get myself dirty or sit in the sun. Weeding is a cathartic activity and beneficial. When I feel like eating, I go to the garden and start loosening the soil. And when I think about how long it takes to dig potatoes, I'm less likely to unconsciously eat French fries.

------Diane

If you know someone with exceptional gardening skills, you've likely heard about the therapeutic properties of gardening. Gardening has many calming effects, which might just be what you're looking for.

Gardening showcases your nurturing abilities. Flowers and vegetables require careful tending. Maintaining a garden demands considerable attention. Too much or too little water is harmful, just as eating too much or too little food is harmful. You must become familiar with your garden to water it properly. You must also pay attention to the environment. After heavy rain, reduce the amount of water you give. How similar this is to understanding your needs and properly satisfying your hunger! You too must constantly adjust the amount of food you eat.

If you keep plants in your home or office, it increases the oxygen content in the air. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and then use it (through photosynthesis) to sustain life. They then release oxygen into the air.

Self-soothing techniques: Improving and caring for your mood

Gardening is an ongoing process. If it's not the right time now, do some housework to plan for your garden. Research seeds, check the types of vegetables available at the grocery store, and then decide what you want to plant.

If you have a garden, go out and weed when you feel the urge to eat. This work is comforting, especially when you are stressed or angry.

If you don't have enough space to create a garden, you can grow plants in pots on the table. When you feel the urge to eat, you can get up and water the plants (if they need it). Try your best to take care of the plants' needs before satisfying your own. When you return to the table, observe if your appetite has changed.

Try growing herbs, because you can grow them on your windowsill.

Think of gardening symbolically. Imagine clearing away your negative thoughts like weeding.

Miniature intellectual challenges

I love the taste of French fries; I could eat them all day. This unconscious eating pushed me into a strange mental state. I wasn't tasting the fries, nor was I thinking about how much I ate. When I was relaxed enough, I snapped out of this unconscious state and felt overwhelmed by how much fries I'd eaten. Afterward, I tried to replace eating with lying down, but I felt bored and listless because I had nothing to do. Now, I've found another way to eat without adding calories: playing mind games.

------Ariel

Ariel was about to take an exam to become a certified dental assistant. If she failed, she wouldn't be able to get the job the dentist had promised her. She was extremely worried. After hours of studying, she could no longer concentrate. She couldn't control her anxiety about failing the exam. She longed to eat the crackers on the table, hoping that doing so would make her worries disappear.

However, Ariel took a brief mental break. She quickly flipped through a book of brain teasers she'd bought from a magazine stand. Ariel did this simply because her sister was fascinated by brain teasers, and she wanted to know what made them so appealing. She chose a book suitable for beginners. Within minutes, she was completely immersed in the games. She completely forgot about her anxiety. The upcoming exam also vanished from her mind. When she finished the game, she felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment. The process invigorated her, allowing her to start studying again with a clear mind. Playing brain teasers is like brain exercise; it develops new brain connections and utilizes parts of the brain that aren't used often. Isn't it great to use more brain structures to help eliminate stress from logical eating?

Self-soothing techniques: calming mental games

Try puzzle games like tic-tac-toe and crossword puzzles. You can download them for free online. Make sure to choose a game that suits your skill level. If a puzzle game is too easy, you'll get bored quickly. If it's too difficult, it will frustrate you. Therefore, choose one that matches your skill level.

Print out some brain teasers and place them near the kitchen or your desk. Put them where you store food or where you like to eat.

Try simple computer games, such as checkers, which you can play by yourself. You can also try puzzle games, which can keep you occupied for hours.

If you don't like games, try other things that can appropriately challenge your intellect. Read an article in a magazine or listen to the radio.