Want to feel like a Jolly Green … ZEN giant?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Ahhhhh, Spring! A perfect time to tend the garden and breathe in fresh air! Satisfying — and HEALTHY! Can all that goodness come in small – I mean REALLY small — packages?
Biologists Caroll Hermann and Stephen Edwards from the University of Zululand in South Africa investigated.
Bonsai artists cultivate miniature, living trees and landscapes. The researchers conducted an international online study with over two-hundred and fifty skilled bonsai artists. Participants completed questionnaires to report how bonsai art affected their well-being.
What did they find? About seventy-eight percent of participants scored HIGHER on tests that measure spirituality. They also scored LOWER on tests that suggest anxiety or depression. This means bonsai art is improving their lives in more ways than one!
WOW! Can you be-LEAF it? The team thinks this friendly activity eco-friendly activity is a great fit for folks in retirement or rehabilitation centers!
When it comes to maintaining our health, bonsai trees prove that size does NOT matter! Think SMALL!
Reference: Hermann, Caroll, and Stephen D. Edwards. “Practitioners’ Experiences of the Influence of Bonsai Art on Health.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18062894.