In 2022, after being hit hard with a viral illness in a time of extreme stress combined with receiving a vaccine that my body reacted quite badly to, I developed Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), a form of dysautonomia - a disorder of the nervous system. Along with this, I developed debilitating post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). For the following 18 months, I was wholly incapacitated - I struggled to walk up staircases and carry out basic daily functions. As a previously extremely fit, athletic young male, this experience was frightening to say the least. For the most part, I was completely bedridden and relied on my partner and my family to help me function. However, even during the worst of my debilitation, stepping out into the garden for a breath of fresh air and taking a short barefoot walk through the paths in my garden provided a safe place and momentary sigh of relief from the debilitation that had engulfed my life. The scents, the sounds of the birds, the smell of the soil and cocktail of lush greens and an array of other colours around me - it was like a potent dose of therapy for my nervous system. And it cost absolutely nothing. In the beginning, these experiences only lasted a minute or two before I started running out of breath and would feel the fatigue dragging me back inside again. However, as I continued in my gradual recovery, this – let’s call it ‘garden therapy’ - became a daily ritual that I would immensely look forward to. After prayer time and bible study, my daily garden therapy had become one of the most important parts of my recovery. By the end of the worst of my illness, my two-minute meanders through the garden had turned into ten-minute pottering - progressively, I felt more energy build in my body for simple tasks such as light pruning, pulling out a couple weeds here and there, dead heading spent flowers, maybe a little raking. My garden time had become meditation in movement.

By around month nineteen of living with POTS and CFS, I was spending hours in the garden tending to any task I could from repairing pavers to planting new shrubs, my days were increasingly spent in nature. By that point it was late spring - my favourite time of the year - lush lime greens, balmy temperatures, plenty of sun to soak in, and the garden exploding with new growth. What had been a two-minute ritual in my darkest chapter, had become what I filled my day with. It was then that I realised that I wanted to dedicate my career and as much of my productive time as possible into gardens. With previous horticultural studies and work experience under my belt and a disdain for being stuck in a corporate office (which I had been for years prior) my love for plants and landscaping naturally led me to my decision to ditch the corporate world entirely as a full-time occupation and pursue garden landscaping as a full-time discipline and career path. I didn’t want to spend a minute away from the environment where I found, and still do, find profound therapeutic benefits and healing. Despite it being one of life’s riskiest moves (for anyone!), the decision to launch my own garden landscaping business was made without an inch of hesitation. This was the only path forward that I felt God had laid before me for the rebuilding of my career and the continuation of my recovery.

Three years later, there is no looking back. I find it a blessing and privilege to spend every day in nature, helping transform and maintain gardens across Canberra. I am far from fully recovered and, of course, with heavy physical work, pacing myself and carefully managing the symptoms I am challenged with on a daily basis is an ongoing reality. I won’t sit here and advise you to go out and start your own gardening business! It is certainly not for everyone! Nor will I claim that gardening healed me. It was a combination of medical help, family support and carefully paced work in nature which led me to functionality.  Based on my journey, I will wholeheartedly recommend to anyone struggling with similar health struggles or mental health challenges - step outside into the garden even if it’s only for five minutes. Soak in the environment, let it flood your senses, move your body slowly, soak in the sunlight, take deep breaths of the fresh air Canberra offers. This ritual just might become a little chunk of daily therapy for your mind and body that could help you in your own recovery journey and who knows, it may progressively become hours outside conquering tasks you never thought you could do.

Unlike a structured gym workout, gardening allows your body to move naturally and at its own pace. You can stop whenever you need to, work for five minutes or five hours, and gradually build your capacity over time. Gardening naturally incorporates an incredible variety of functional movements — from simply walking, reaching overhead, squatting, bending, pushing, pulling and lifting (especially when working with pavers!), to climbing (if you have tall hedges!) and lunging. All the while, you're breathing fresh air, soaking up some sunlight to help your body produce vitamin D (nature's antidepressant), and engaging muscles you might not even realise you're using.

For those living with conditions like POTS or CFS, the flexibility steady pace of gardening can make all the difference. Even for those without chronic illness, gardening offers a rare opportunity to slow down in an increasingly busy world. It gets you outside, away from screens, moving your body with purpose, and connected to something living. There is something deeply satisfying about planting a tree, pruning a rose, or watching bulbs emerge after a long Canberra winter. It reminds us that growth often happens slowly, quietly, and season by season. In many ways, I found that as my garden began to flourish again, so did I.