For those who share the joy of mowing, there’s nothing like being out in the yard, cutting the grass, tending to the garden, getting the landscaping to look neat and tidy.
When people describe what that joy feels like, a common theme runs through it:
“It’s my meditation. It takes me away from all the (stuff) going on in the world.”
—John E. Varney III
“When I get out and mow my own yard, it’s like therapy for me. I can escape and press the reset button.”
— Whit Taylor, owner of Commercial Cutting Equipment, Maryville, Tennessee
“…the Zen of being alone in the sun…”
—Jon Torley, Colorado Springs, Colorado
“My dad, that’s his therapy; getting in the yard, trimming the bushes, making them look a certain way, standing back and knowing, ‘Hey I did that’ and getting compliments.”
—Frank James, Jr., manager at Carswell Distributing Company, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
“More of an intellectual, peace-of-mind exercise. Few things (are) as relaxing as mowing a large lawn with a good machine.”
—Tom Gluth, Erick, Oklahoma
“Out on my rider, IT ALL G O E S… Just pure, unadulterated RELAXATION…letting my mind roll on…understand why my hard working farmer Daddy loved being out on his tractor!”
—Ella Pleasant, Jackson, Missouri
“…the smell of the fresh cut grass gives me peace.”
—Lynda Salyer-Lovely, Steele, Alabama
Mowing as Therapy
It is a sentiment that doesn’t surprise Michael Murphy. She is a counselor and Certified Group Psychotherapist in Nashville, Tennessee. We asked her to explain the experience and feeling that people are expressing when they say that mowing is therapy for them.
“In this time of Covid and people feeling shut down or being asked to shut down…it invites our sense of powerlessness,” Michael says. “People who like to spend outdoors in their yards, these are people who have control over things. They get things done…there’s no powerlessness. They are capable. And they are reminded of how capable they are.”
When you accomplish something that makes you feel competent, you realize that you are successful, that you are enjoying success. And that, Michael says, feels good.
She also thinks that being grateful goes a long way.
“Having gratitude for what you have, what you survived, what you are yet to explore and discover,” Michael says, “life can be pretty great.”
What can a homeowner do to squeeze even more joy out of the experience?
“It’s really about enjoying the moment. If they are out in the day, planting rose bushes or mowing a lawn, being fully in the moment where they are aware; they feel the sun on their face or a nice breeze, or they are aware of birds flying over, just savoring that I’m here, alive, right now… it’s an experience. You are getting something done. You’re helping.”
It’s that meditation, that idea of forgetting about the outside world and just being aware of the here and now will allow you to savor the moment.
“It’s tuning out the static in your head. It’s more of like tuning some stuff out and tuning into just being in the here and now. It may seem so obvious and it’s a simple thing, like shifting a gear. Shifting a gear into the here and now.
“Remind ourselves that we do have choices…including where we place our attention and what we think. And by getting into a gear of looking at your surroundings, if you’re out in a field, out weeding, is to realize that nature is beautiful.”
Michael Murphy is a Certified Group Psychotherapist. She works and lives in Nashville, TN.
To read more of our interview with Michael, click here.