How I de-stress in a just a few minutes
The Adelaide Botanical Gardens are an amazing green space right in the city. The boast a huge range of plant species and attract an abundance of wildlife. I have recently been crossing the road every lunchtime to have a wonder in the Botanic gardens.
How do the gardens de-stress me?
Attending university and living in the city can sometimes make you forget how grey and tiring urban spaces can be. Don鈥檛 get me wrong, there is something really exciting about cities and urban spaces but humans also need green spaces and contact with nature. It is so fortunate to have the botanic gardens literally right across the road. The best de-stress tools the gardens have in my opinion include;
The bird life:聽The screeches and screams of the lorries and galahs is oddly relaxing and there is always an abundance of bird life attracted to the gardens. Other than the bird life, I had the privilege of seeing a whole family of antechinus (an Australian mammal that looks similar to a rat but much cuter).
The water features:聽The water features provide a refreshing ambience and there is nothing better than the sound of flowing water. The birds also bathe in it, which is always entertaining when they turn into a fluffed up ball of soggy feathers.
The plants:聽This may sound like an obvious one but when you take the time to really look at all the plant species in the garden I guarantee it will blow your mind. Somehow, the clever caretakers and gardeners have cultivated plants from all corners of the globe. You鈥檒l find plants with odd and different textures and even some that look like they鈥檙e from the set of a Jurassic Park film.
The fresh air:聽The air quality just feels lighter in the gardens. Whether that鈥檚 is because I become more at ease and remember to breathe deeply or because the trees just make it so I鈥檓 not sure, but it is great.
The sugar cane:聽This one is a bit naughty but the gardens have a few bushes of out of control sugar cane. Sometimes when no one is looking I鈥檒l pinch an overgrown part of the bush and snap it to chew and suck on. Sugar cane is so sweet, tasty and surprisingly a聽super food聽with great health benefits!
So next time I鈥檓 feeling tired or a bit down I always find a walk in the garden does me a world of good.