We here at Joy of Mowing have heard from a lot of people about how cutting the grass and working in the yard or garden is a kind of therapy for them, especially in the time of Covid.
We wanted to know more about this, so we turned to Michael Murphy, a counselor and Certified Group Psychotherapist who owns a private practice in Nashville, Tennessee.
Q: When people say mowing is therapy, what is it they are saying?
Michael Murphy: In this time of Covid and people feeling shut down or being asked to shut down, not only mask up, but quarantine, this is difficult for a lot of people. It invites our sense of powerlessness. We can’t see the enemy. So, being quarantined, people who like to spend outdoors in their yards, these are people who have control over things. They can change gears. They can maintain and repair equipment. They get things done. They can mow a field. Done. I did this. There’s no powerlessness. They are capable. They are reminded of how capable they are.
Here are capable, get ‘er done people, living in this era of Covid. They are reminded that they are competent. They are present. They are there in the moment. They can’t go off daydreaming on a big expensive piece of equipment, they’re paying attention. So, part of that is feeling competent and successful.
When you are reminded that you’re competent, you’re successful and that feels good. Especially during this time. Or a person may screw up in other areas of their life, but man, in this area I’m acing it. I can use this equipment. I can repair equipment. I get things done. It’s within my control.
Q: How might people get the most out of the experience for maximum satisfaction?
Michael Murphy: This may seem too meditative or new wave for some people, but 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. And that’s a beautiful hawk I just saw fly over. Breathing. Realizing we have our senses; we can see, hear, touch. Just being in the moment and savoring the moment.
Just being aware of what is around you. Also, that you are getting something done. Even if it’s a little thing like weeding around your shrubbery. It’s an experience. You are getting something done. You’re helping.
Q: The idea of meditation, it’s an intentional behavior, is that what you’re saying?
Michael Murphy: Yeah, it’s tuning out the static in your head. All the stuff you got to do. You got to call this guy back. I’ve got all of these emails I have to get to. It’s just, let it go and be present.
It’s more 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 to the here and now. What can you see? What do you hear?
I also think of gratitude. Having gratitude for what you have, what you survived, what you are yet to explore and discover, life can be pretty great, even in this time of Covid. When we are given caution! caution! caution! signals…yeah, it’s smart to be cautious, but not to totally shut down.
Q: How does this behavior contribute to well-being of a person’s mental health?
Michael Murphy: It could be a factor. We can remind ourselves that we do have choices. We can choose to stay home, locked down, miserable, telling ourselves this is horrible, everything is unfair, I’m not going to wear a damn mask, the hell with everybody, whatever it might be. It is a whole range of things. But you realize at any moment we have a choice, including where we place our attention and what we think.
We could decide to put our attention somewhere else. We have a choice. We can do it. They are healthy choices. And by getting into a gear of looking at your surroundings — it you’re out in a field, out weeding – is to realize that nature is beautiful. I’m breathing in fresh air.
If you shift out of anxiety and anger to gratitude and appreciation, those are different brain chemicals that are going on. Our brains have different chemicals for joy, anger, sorrow, all kinds of emotions. So, the more joyful brain chemicals we have, that’s going to help our breathing, help our muscles; it’s going to help our overall health and well-being.
Michael Murphy is a Certified Group Psychotherapist. She works and lives in Nashville, TN.