Soil Makes You Happy!



 The journal Neuroscience reported that contact with a soil bacteria called Mycobacterium vaccae triggers the release of serotonin in the brain.

Serotonin is the 'happiness' biochemical.  (Lack of serotonin in the brains is related to depression.)

 
So perhaps we should package some dirt loaded with this bacteria and tell city dwellers to rub it all over their hands! It would be a big seller!
 
for sale - click here
 
On second thought, growing a garden is much more useful...and healthier: dirt on heads, sweat on brow, sun on head, muscles moving. I remember coming to work the first day as a gardener on a resort known for its gardens (back in the 1970s). The French gardener was a true professional and when he saw me with my garden gloves he chided me, calling me a 'housewife'. Well, that was it! I threw away my garden gloves and never wore them again.
 
Maybe that has helped me stay relatively happy all these years. My hands are in the soil a lot of the time....
 
 
 
so off with the gloves! feel the warm dirt on your hands... And Get Happy!

 

 









 

Comments

  1. phyllisJuly 23, 2013 at 4:26 PM

    "The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there." George Bernard Shaw

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan JohnsenJuly 24, 2013 at 7:28 AM

      Such a perfect quote for this - thanks, Phyllis!

      Delete

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