Healthy Living by Willow Creek Springs
A podcast about practices to promote healthy lives featuring experts, businesses, and clients: we gather to share our stories about success, failure, exploration, and so much more. Our subscription episodes feature some personal and vulnerable, real-life stories that are sensitive to some of the general public.
Healthy Living by Willow Creek Springs
Grow A Grateful Mind: From Soil To Soul part 1
Ever notice how a single thought can steer your whole day? We take that idea seriously and put it to work with two powerful tools: gratitude and time in the garden. Joe shares why focusing on what’s working—rather than what’s wrong—can shift your mood, your choices, and even your stress response, then shows how a living, breathing landscape makes that shift easier and more natural.
We explore the psychology of gratitude in plain language: fewer negative loops, calmer emotions, and better resilience when life throws a curveball. Then we step into therapeutic horticulture, where mindfulness shows up without effort because the environment asks for your attention. You’ll hear how sensory cues like scent, texture, color, and motion speak directly to the nervous system, why a simple herb bed can be a calm machine, and how “chicken therapy” is more than a meme—it’s a gentle focus practice that invites curiosity and joy.
From journaling prompts that retrain your appraisals to the patient lessons hidden in seeds, seasons, and soil, this episode maps small, repeatable habits that compound into well-being. Joe ties in the mission of Gardens of Hope in Perris, California, and shares real-world examples of how nature engagement supports mental health, reduces anxiety, and replaces rumination with presence. If you’ve felt scattered, overwhelmed, or stuck in complaint mode, you’ll leave with steps you can try today: three lines in a notebook, a five-minute walk, a moment to notice water on a leaf.
Ready to grow a steadier mind and a lighter day? Follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a quick review to help more people find this conversation. Then grab a pen, step outside, and tell us what you’re grateful for right now.
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Well, hello, and welcome back to the Healthy Living Podcast. I'm your host, Joe Grumbine, and today we're gonna be talking about a subject that is really important to me, and actually a couple of them and how they tie together. We're gonna be talking about gratitude and its connection to health. And we're also gonna be talking about therapeutic horticulture and uh how being in nature and gardening are connected to gratitude. And if you don't know, um I run a nonprofit called Gardens of Hope. We're located in Paris, California, and we've got a two and a half acre botanical garden, and we offer therapeutic horticulture and education through our programs. And it's really kind of a simple concept. Uh I believe that being outside, being in nature, being in a garden, especially a beautiful garden, gardening, doing um activities that are connected to any of these things, improves health. And any type of modality that you would be to use is gonna perform better if you're gonna do it in a garden setting outside in nature, and so I want to talk a little bit about gratitude by itself. So, you know, it's a simple concept, right? We create our own reality by what we think about, and you know, there's all kinds of uh studies that show that you know people that are negative have all sorts of negative consequences. You you create what you think about, you if you're complaining about things constantly, well, in my opinion, and I've in my experience, you create those things that you're complaining about, and you're creating a place for them to continue. Um, whereas if you are live a life of gratitude, I believe that you foster those things. If you're grateful for every little thing, well your life gets better, and and it might only be because you're aware of those things and you're spending your time dwelling on them. And and frankly, I think that's where happiness comes from, is where you're spending your time, what you're thinking about, your attitude. And you know, there's an old saying, uh, the attitude of gratitude is gonna bring you, you know, the best life. It's it's just it's just that way. Um gratitude has been studied, you know, in in psychology, health, um, it has shown to have a positive impact on both mental and physical well-being. And there are just so many ways that that happens. And well, let's just start off with mental health, you know. Um if you have a predisposition to being grateful, you're liable to not be very depressed because you're thinking about what's good. And anxiety tends to be reduced. And this is something that you know all kind of stems. You generally will have less negative thoughts and and even have a um a higher level of life satisfaction. So if you're thinking about the things you're grateful for, you're not giving yourself a place for all those negative thoughts, you know, the the all the negative things that want to come in. And I know lots of people, hell I'm married to one who seem to find what's wrong with everything. And in my opinion, that's easy. I can always find something wrong. But then what? Okay, so you noticed a thing wrong. Now what? Right? You've just brought it to life, you've thought about it, you've you've dwelt on it for a moment, you you've created a place where it now has some energy and life because you're thinking about it, you have thought about it, and I think that um it depression, anxiety, any of the situations that mentally cause us problems, I think start out as a little thing, a little thought, a little problem, a little this, a little that, and then we feed on it, just like you know, emotions. And an emotion will come through, or an urge, it'll come through, you'll think about it for a second. And if you just let it go, you go, oh man, I'm pissed off at that son of a bitch, or I want that whatever is your vice of choice. And if you just go, you know what, not right now, I don't have time for this right now. I just let it go. Chances are within 15, 20 seconds, you're not gonna feel anything from that anymore. But by the same token, if you sit there and go, oh man, you know, I wish I had it. I where how am I gonna go and do that? I've got to go stop at the store, I gotta go, or that, you know, that so-and-so cut me off. God dang it, I'm gonna cut, I'm gonna get in front of him and and stop my hit my brakes, you know, or whatever. That the thought, you start, you can build a um, you know, build yourself into a frenzy almost, or not even almost, by dwelling on a thing, a negative thing. So that's opposite holds true with with gratitude. If you're thinking about, wow, what a wonderful day this is. Look at how just the sun is up and it's clear, and it just rained, and it's just so pleasant to be outside. I just feel like breathing the clean air, and and you know, you can just spend your time in that place and bring yourself to a place of bliss. And that's uh it it it's a thing that generates a sense of well-being, and I believe that that is critical in a healthy mental state, and it it's it just does nothing but good. So let's correlate uh being outdoors, getting in nature with gratitude here. And just, you know, obviously, well, not maybe not obviously, but I would say try it. You know, if you if you find yourself being depressed or anxious or you know, being beseeched by negativity, um, I would always encourage anybody to start a gratitude journal and just go out of your way to think about anything that you're grateful for. You gotta have something. It's so easy to find somebody else that's worse off than you. You know, if you got two legs, there's a guy that only has one leg, or maybe no legs. If you can see, think about the blind man, if you can hear, think about the deaf man, if you can speak, you know, think about the person who has no tongue, whatever. You can just go on and on and on about all the things to be grateful for. Um, you know, if you don't have cancer, if you, you know, have a relationship, a place to live, food in your belly. I mean, it just you can just go on and on and on about the things you're grateful for. And frankly, I suggest you do that. You know, get yourself a journal, an empty book, or a piece of paper for God's sake, and a pen, and just start writing down things that you are grateful for and start there. So getting outside in nature, one of the things that I've found that come to mind no matter what, you know, there are lots of things being outside that you have to do this or that, or if the situation is this or that. But one thing I've discovered is that mindfulness in nature is easily found. Being outside, being outdoors, being in a garden encourages mindfulness because you're generally going to be seeing new things, even if it's a garden that you take care of. I've been working this garden for 30 years, and I can't wait every morning to go for a walk around with my dogs because you know why? I see new things every single day. The garden is a dynamic environment, it changes constantly, and it's just a sense of wonder, and so you find yourself being mindful for a number of reasons. One, you watch where you're walking. You know, if you're in a garden, you're likely in a place where you could walk into something. You know, you you heard of the old saying, it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Well, walking around in a garden long enough, I've received a poke in the eye with a sharp stick more than once. And that was from either being mindful of something that wasn't where I was going, or just not being mindful at all. And I've walked into a stick a couple more than a couple of times. And, you know, step on a rake, you know, forget about a rake and leave it down, a steel rake or a pitchfork or a shovel or a hoe, and you catch the wrong edge of it, and whack comes up the handle and smashes you in the head. Uh, walking into a limb of a tree that's hanging low, um, tripping on a branch or a rock, or hell, maybe there's a snake crawling around that you didn't notice until you almost stepped on it, or a lizard, or uh, you know, just uh so many things. I've got a stream. It would be easy to slip and fall into the stream if you're walking along and not paying attention. And so being mindful tends to bring your mind to notice the beauty and the intricacies of your surroundings, and that heightened awareness can lead to an appreciation for the natural world where it becomes easier and easier to find gratitude. You know, I'll see a flower, I'll see a butterfly, I'll see a bird, I'll see a lizard, a fish, uh, you know, a rainbow, water glistening on a leaf. I mean, there's just so many beautiful things I've seen in the garden. And to just take a moment and say, wow, that was amazing. I'm grateful for that. Um I don't know. I think that's that's a that's a powerful um uh it it's it's it's a powerful statement that says if you got nothing else from going into the garden but a little bit of mindfulness and an awareness of the things that are beautiful in the garden, it'd be worth it. Um another element, and this is something that we're working on in building what we're calling sensory gardens, but it's a sensory engagement, you know. Um nature comes in so many ways, so many um facets of nature that uh the sights and sounds and smells um it they can evoke feelings of joy and gratitude as you connect with the environment on different sensory levels. And you know, it's something that people don't realize, but you've got a limbic system that connects your brain um to smell. And have you, I don't know if you've ever noticed, but there are certain smells that will trigger a memory. Um, you know, maybe your grandmother used to have lavender in her garden, and anytime you come around lavender, all of a sudden you're like, oh, I I remember my my grandma's garden or whatever. There's so many different smells that a garden can produce. Um, and even how the tactile element, you know, feeling a soft furry leaf or a smooth, sleek leaf, or a flower, or you know, an animal. There's just so many different tactile senses or or or sensations. Um you can smell so many different things, just the the sight, the colors, the the shapes, uh motion, you know, watching something run or fly. Uh even things like insects, you know, watching a preying mantis or a butterfly or a stink bug or a spider. Um just just watching them move and and just be what they are. It's pretty incredible. We got a tortoise, and it's so cool just watching this thing move around. He's like this dinosaur, and and watching him eat and drink and run and walk and just be a tortoise. And it's just it brings um it brings joy, and that and that is something to be grateful for. Chickens are another thing. I I think that chicken therapy is um is a real thing. And we're hoping to uh get some funding or donations to uh build a nice aviary. We've got a chicken coop right now, but it's kind of it's a demonstration of building something out of something else. It was kind of a um uh a scrap project, and it's functional, but it's not something I can really bring a lot of people into because it's kind of low to the ground, and it's just kind of a hazard. Anyways, we're looking to uh build a nice aviary where uh it'll be tall and have an antechamber where you can walk in and not have not let anything out and have seats and perches and and water feature and uh lighting and just really be a an enjoyable place. But they say watching chickens um just behave running around scratching and pecking at things is also very therapeutic. Um you know gratitude is is got a lot of um tangible benefits beyond just feeling better, um having you know positive thoughts and less negative thoughts, it can increase resilience, um helping people to cope better with stress and adversity. You know, if if you're out there having a crappy day and thinking about all the crappy things that have happened, and something comes along and hits you, blindsides you in some way, whether it's physically or mentally or emotionally, sometimes you can spiral into a crappy place and just say, you know what, forget it. I'm not doing this anymore. Um, make some bad choices. Um, you know, there's just so many different elements of this mindset that can just knock you down and keep you there. Whereas if you're having a positive day, if you wake up and say, hey, today's gonna be a great day, I'm gonna look at everything good. And when something challenging comes along and you're busy focusing on the good, think about it. You know, you go, ah, we'll be all right, we'll get through it. It's not so bad. You know, it's it it's really it's really the way you approach something as to how it's gonna have an effect on you. And you can bounce back. I don't know how many times I've done it. If I've you know get up and I whatever, have a have a crappy night's sleep or I'm not feeling good, or or something's you know, got a hold of me, whatever it is, and then one more thing happens, I can, you know, think to make some poor choices. Whereas I wake up most days and I'm feeling good, and and you know, something happens first thing in the morning, and I'm not all worn out and beat up from the day, and and you're just like, ah, we'll get over that. Let's let's let's move along. And I don't know, I think that that's that's pretty darn important. Um I think that you can have a positive cognitive appraisal of experiences, meaning when you're thinking about something, you can look at it in a good light. You know, it's it's I don't know how many times I've had people come up and you know, there's a situation we got to fill some orders. Uh I I have a company where we manufacture natural products, and um, you know, it's just a little small company, and and but sometimes we get real busy, and um, you know, my wife will go, uh, oh my god, we got all this work to do, and and look, there's this and there's that, and she'll find things wrong. And I look at it and I'll like go, well, hey, that's great though. We're gonna pay some bills. Whatever it is that's wrong, we can handle it. It's not a big deal, you know. We we get to work from home, we've got we got all the things we need to make these products, and if we gotta go and make something or somebody's gotta be a little late, hey, we'll be all right. And it's not that she's always that way, but I I we're not the same that way. I I tend to be uh an optimist, and and you know, and it's it's a lot of people I think have that issue of of being uh um I don't know if it's a pessimist or just looking at the things that are wrong. And excuse me, those are those are the they have consequences when you do that. Um so I really think that how you look at it, you know, the glass half full, the glass half empty, I really think that that matters in um how we approach things, how we make decisions, how uh a scenario, an uh an action, an activity uh affects us. And I really think that those those things are are worth looking at. And again, journaling is a great way to sort of identify this. And you know, if you're keeping a gratitude journal, maybe you keep a um an obstacle journal and just try to note whenever a challenge comes your way, uh, identify it, look at it and say, well, what was that challenge? What is that thing that got you know set me off a minute, um, got me off, knocked me off my feet a little bit, and and caused me to think a certain way, um, maybe a way that I didn't want to think. What was that? And then look at it, and then maybe, maybe look at it again and then a day or so and say, well, is there another way that I could have seen that? And you know, hopefully we're we're creatures of habit. I've talked recently, um a number of episodes on habits, creating them and breaking them, and and you know, just the value of and and uh the downfall of being a creature that looks for patterns and is prone to repeat actions based on things being easier, more difficult, or whatnot. So most definitely uh how we see things is gonna have a big impact. Looking back to being in the garden and its connection to gratitude, I think one of the things that you see in nature is you you see cycles, you see life, you see seasons, you see uh transformation, and you see growth. And you know, if you're gardening, um you learn patience because nothing or most things don't happen very quickly in a garden. Um but when you are being mindful, you will notice growth and planting seeds and nurturing them and watching their development, um, watering them, watching them pop up, transplanting them, all the different little stages, and eventually maybe harvesting some food or some tea or or a flower or whatever it is that they ultimately produce. Um I think there gratitude comes easily in that scenario. You know, I know when I plant a seed, uh, I plant a lot of seeds out here, and we plant tree after tree after tree of seeds, and sometimes they don't sprout. And so you learn about the impermanence of things that sometimes things don't work. Maybe the seeds were not good, maybe they dried out, maybe they were too wet. It doesn't matter. I I always say, you know, that's farm life. Sometimes things just don't work out. And I think it's great when something doesn't work out and it's not a big deal. You know, you can be grateful that it wasn't the whole crop, or maybe it wasn't a bunch of different things that went wrong. I mean, there's a million ways, even when something goes wrong, that you can go, oh wow, hey, that's just par for the course, and at least it wasn't this other thing. I think that's important. Um and I I I think that it's as we're watching cycles of life, you receive wisdom, and you receive. I always tell people that you know, my mentor, my school has always been my creek and my garden. The trees and the ground and the water and the wind and the sun. They teach me everything, you know. Um, all of the laws of physics and and the physical laws of nature. Um, you learn about interdependence, the connectedness of life, how everything is tied together. These are all powerful lessons, and they can connect to any aspect of life, um relationships and and emotions and mental outlook, just about everything. And so I really think that interacting with a garden, not just walking through it and observing it, which by itself is valuable, but participating, watering a plant or trimming a plant, or planting a plant, or transplanting, or you know, any of the various tasks that we do, I think foster results, foster something positive, and creates a real easy place for gratitude to take place. I think this conversation is gonna go to at least another, maybe two more episodes. Rather than go super long, I think I'm gonna clip this one down and call this episode one, and we're gonna get back into this and pick up where we left off and um continue the discussion on gratitude and participating in gardening and being outside, getting some therapeutic horticulture, some education, some nature, love, uh, all of these things are powerful and important. And I think that um I'm just gonna encourage you, the listeners, to think about being grateful, to write that gratitude journal, to get your butt outside and look around and find something to be thankful for, find something beautiful. Uh I think you'll notice it has an effect. So on that note, we're gonna wrap this one up. I want to thank everybody for participating and uh making this show possible. And I think that I am grateful for you and the guests and the listeners. And I think that's about it for now. I'm a little, I don't know, it seems like I was a little scattered today. But, anyways, I'm grateful for being here and um I will see you all next time. You have a great day.
