Walking through a blooming garden, with its vibrant colours and attractive bouquets, provides an intrinsic reward, as if rewiring the brain. Heady with the reminder of a new season, or perhaps intoxicating with the scent of fresh air, the impact is undeniable, and it is precisely this effect that inspired Jordan Mara to start a company. After a tough breakup and amid a struggle with persistent anxiety, Mara took his mother up on her sympathetic suggestion that he join her in the garden one afternoon. “I felt like I could take a deep breath for the first time,” he remembers. “That tightness that had been sitting on me, and on my shoulders, felt like it had lifted.”
When the Squamish resident founded Mind and Soil in 2020, he set out to help others facing mental health issues by guiding them towards healing through gardening. He began simply, by sharing tips and small experiments through his social media, explaining topics like how to grow zucchini or winterize basil plants. The business evolved into workshops designed to help people better understand gardening’s positive impact on both mental and physical health. Since his launch, Mara has built an impressive community, reaching over 300,000 fellow gardeners with his popular YouTube channel and Instagram account (both @Mindandsoil).
In 2024, Mara launched his online mentoring program, Grounded, bringing online lessons, grounding exercises and office hours to novice gardeners. While he focuses on sharing insights on how to create a bounty of blooms (worm castings, anyone?), he knows the benefits reach far beyond growing giant bulbs of garlic.
“It’s about how good it feels to soothe and nurture our nervous system by spending time in the garden,” says Mara. Science backs him up. The experience of awe — a sense of wonderment for something outside of our current frame of reference — allows people to tap out of their default mode network, a pattern of brain activity linked to periods of rumination or anxiety. When people remove themselves from the hamster wheel of thoughts, they allow themselves to become fully immersed in their immediate environment — in this case, the garden.
As the gardener checks out, dopamine checks in. Casually referred to as the “pleasure chemical,” it gives feelings of satisfaction and motivation — the “can’t get enough of it” feeling often associated with addictive behaviours. The excitement of small wins, such as seeing the growth of a tiny tomato or the first sprouting of a seed, comes from dopamine. Mara remembers this from his first moments digging in the dirt. “I didn’t know what this gardening thing was, but I knew it would be with me for the rest of my life.”
His first experience in his mother’s garden was an attempt to shift his focus, or lack thereof, after feeling like his anxiety had taken over. Though he didn’t realize it at the time, the minute his hands touched the ground, his anxiety would have a harder time sticking around. A bacterium found in soil, Microbacterium vaccae, can increase the levels of serotonin in our prefrontal cortex, the area that modulates anxiety. The increase in serotonin ushers in an entire marching band of positive effects, including lowered risk of depression, increased immunity and even prolonged lifespan.
These chemical reactions show how humans are innately wired for this timeless hobby. The need for connection, whether it be to one another or something greater than us, makes gardening an actual no-brainer. Neuroscientist Dr. Caitlin Vander Weele found that the presence of plants causes the brain to release oxytocin, a chemical connected to bonding and nurturing behaviour. When people spend time with plants, their brains can quickly move from a fight-or-flight response to a tend-and-befriend experience, naturally calming them.
Beyond gardening’s vast neurological benefits, the strongest bond between humans and plants is the shared experience of growth and transformation. Mara had no idea that one fateful day in the garden would drastically change the course of his life, connecting him with people worldwide to “spread the good soil.” And when he did immerse himself in the garden, he found the remedy he now shares with his community: that the more people listen to their bodies, quiet their busy minds and wonder at the fruits of their labour, the more they can heal.
Mind and Soil’s tips for gardening success:
- Start small: We all want to have a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables to choose from, but baby steps are ideal for your first garden. Start with two or three plants, and get obsessed with what those particular plants need.
- Grow what you love: If you want to grow beans but have little desire to eat them, you’re betting against yourself. Grow things you cannot wait to eat, and you’ll be that much more invested in the process.
- Feed the soil: Soil happiness is plant happiness. Mara recommends 75 percent compost and 25 percent vermiculite (a clay particle that you mix into your soil). To really help the plants thrive, add a handful of worm castings and a tablespoon of organic fertilizer.