Dirt therapy – does it work?

We can never have enough of nature.

–Henry David Thoreau

Last fall, I found myself in an unfamiliar and stressful family situation. This situation made me feel extremely anxious and literally scared. I was afraid I might lose my job due to debilitating anxiety. After a couple of weeks of trying to tackle the feelings alone, I called my primary care physician and a therapist. Asking for help is not something I usually do, but I did not like how I was feeling.

I received a prescription for anxiety medication from my doctor and began weekly virtual counseling sessions. Both the medication and the therapy have helped tremendously, but I believe designing and creating xeriscaping in my yard this summer also helped. As a long time gardener and landscaper, I believe dirt therapy may help people who suffer from anxiety or other mental health issues.

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“If you want to end your isolation,…

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you must be honest about what you want at a core level and decide to go after it.” —Martha Beck, best-selling author, life coach and speaker

It has been four years since I retired from teaching full time. Even after all this time, I still struggle with the lack of social interaction and isolation, but I’m working on it.

The high school I taught in was populated with 1500 people; more than many Wyoming towns. It was difficult to find alone time as a teacher. Now, in retirement, it’s just the opposite; lots of alone time. I long for something in between and end the isolation.

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Social media helps seniors stay connected

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Social media complements face-to-face interactions for residents

Lonely or socially isolated?

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DREAMSTIME

Social isolation does not mean mom is lonely: Caregiver SOS

The two terms are not interchangeable, but it is important to find out why senior doesn’t want to leave the house.

Loneliness study reminds us to call home

loneliness studyHalf a million older people spend every day alone, poll shows

Scale of loneliness among over-60s revealed as Age UK develops scheme to provide support and companionship

Haroon Siddique

January 6, 2017

“Half a million people over the age of 60 usually spend each day alone, with no interaction with others, and nearly half a million more commonly do not see or speak to anyone for five or six days a week, a poll suggests.

Age UK, which commissioned the research, said the results highlighted a growing number of chronically lonely older people, which was placing increasing demand on health services.

The charity has been running a pilot programme in eight areas where Age UK groups have been actively trying to identify lonely older people and offer them companionship.

Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, said: ‘This new analysis shows that about a million older people in our country are profoundly alone, many of whom are likely to be enduring the pain and suffering of loneliness.'”

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Billy Graham, 98, offers hope to the grieving and lonely

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Are you experiencing grief or loneliness during this holiday season?  The article below and Billy Graham’s advice may offer some hope.  Click on the Bowling Green Daily News link to see the original column and Graham’s three suggestions for dealing with the “overwhelmed with sorrow” feeling during the holidays.

Billy Graham says death is not the end for terminally ill Christians

by Jardine Malado, The Christian Times

December 28, 2016

“Famed evangelist Billy Graham encouraged terminally ill Christians not to give up on life and look at their situation from God’s point of view so that they may realize that death is not the end for them.

In his advice column in the Bowling Green Daily News on Dec. 20, a terminally-ill woman told Graham that the doctors have predicted that this year’s Christmas might be her last due to an inoperable tumor. She said that she is having a hard time trying to pretend like she’s enjoying the holidays.

‘How can anyone in my situation be cheerful at Christmas?’ the woman who is known only as Mrs. L.L asked.

Graham encouraged the woman to try to change her attitude and look at her own life from God’s point of view.

‘How does God see you? He sees you first of all as someone He deeply loves. You are not insignificant; you aren’t something for whom death is the end,’ the evangelist wrote.

‘Listen: God loves you! He loves you so much that 2,000 years ago He came into this world in the person of His Son, so you could have your sins forgiven and go to be with Him in Heaven forever,’ he continued.”

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From the Center of Retirement Research…Senior housing

Image result for elderly loneliness images Senior Housing a Remedy for Loneliness?

by Kimberly Blanton, Squared Away Blog

August 25, 2016

“After his wife of 36 years died from cancer, Dick St. Lawrence experienced something new: loneliness.

‘Worst feeling in the world,’ St. Lawrence, 81, said about Linda St. Lawrence’s death in the winter of 2014.

Like many widows and widowers before him, he had to build a new life for himself, despite having the comfort of a large family of four living children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. His first small step was accepting an invitation to play poker at Shillman House, an independent housing community for seniors. The man who called to invite St. Lawrence knew a woman who used to play Mahjongg with Linda.

Next thing he knew, he’d sold their family home in Framingham, Mass., around the corner from Shillman House, and settled into one of its 150 apartments. Now he plays two poker games a week, works out at his old gym, and socializes with Shillman’s residents every evening in the dining room. At night, his Cairn terrier, Rusty, keeps him company during Red Sox games on television.

‘I want to visit as long as I can,’ Dick St. Lawrence jokes about his plan to spend his final days there.

The vast majority of baby boomers in an AARP survey said they want to age in their homes ‘as long as possible.’  But when the rubber meets the road – in old age – the elderly often learn that isolation is bad for their psyche and their health.

There are downsides even to living in a community for independent seniors, with the constant reminders of the vulnerabilities that come with aging. When a Shillman resident suddenly becomes ill and is driven away in an ambulance, dread quickly spreads among the residents that he or she might not be coming back.

Still, they say, the positives far outweigh the negatives. All in their 80s, the seniors interviewed have visibly slowed down but are still enjoying vigorous social lives.”

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