照料花園有利於健康
Gardening does a body good. The gardener communes with nature, can sow and reap, shape the garden as he or she sees fit, relax or simply enjoy the beauty of it. Gardening's many positive aspects are also used to treat people who are ill.
花園對身體有益。花匠與日然交談，可以播種收穫，設計他或她認爲合適的花園，放鬆心情或只是欣賞它的美觀。園藝工作許多積極方面的作用還可治療疾病。
"Gardening therapy has existed in Germany for about 20 years, though the idea is much older," notes Konrad Neuberger, chairman of the Association for Horticulture and Therapy in Germany. Psychiatrists discovered more than 300 years ago that working outdoors in the midst of nature has salubrious effects.
“園藝療法在德國已經存在了約20年，然而該理念在更早前就提出了。”德國園藝和治療協會主席Konrad Neuberger解釋說。精神病學家早在300多年前就發現，在大自然工作有益於健康。
Today several hundred institutions in Germany, most of them psychiatric, include gardening in their repertoire of therapies.
如今，德國幾百個機構，其中大部分是精神病學的，都在他們的全套療程中包含了園藝療法。
Among them is the Helios CLinic in the town of Hattingen, which specializes in neurosurgical and neurological rehabilitation. It has been employing gardening therapy for 18 years. The patients there are people who have had traumatic brain injuries, cerebral hemorrhages or tumor treatments.
其中，哈廷根的赫利俄斯診所專門研究神經外科學和神經病學的康復。它採用園藝療法已經18年了。這些病人都接受過腦外傷、腦出血或者腫瘤治療。
"It's often during moments in the garden that they feel they're capable again," says Andreas Niepel, a Helios therapist and president of the Germany-based International Gardening Therapy Society.
“常常當他們在花園的時候他們會覺得再次有能力。”赫利俄斯診所的臨牀醫學家和德國國際園藝治療協會會長Andreas Niepel說。
Gardening therapy has multiple benefits. First is the physical benefit: Weakened people strengthen their bodies while gardening. And unlike physiotherapy, patients tending to a garden derive additional benefits by creating or changing things.
園藝療法有許多好處。首先是身體受益：體弱人士通過園藝工作使身體變得更強壯。不像物理療法，照料花園的病人通過創造或改變事情獲得額外的好處。
"They can put away flower pots and improve their gripping ability, for example," Neuberger says.
“例如，他們可以把花盆放好，提高他們使用工具的能力。”Neuberger說。
The spectrum of work in a garden is broad, ranging from simple activities such as crumbling soil to more challenging ones like trimming a hedge. There is something to do for people of all abilities. And patients with excess energy can work it off in a garden.
花園裏的工作是很廣泛的，從簡單的活動如碎土到比較有挑戰性的如裝飾籬笆。也有些工作是需要人的各種能力。有多餘精力的病人可以在花園裏完成。
(恆星英語學習網原創內容,轉載請註明出處!)Above all, however, gardening is good for the soul. People on the receiving end of care become caregivers. They are needed and have a task. A lot of patients look forward to gardening and caring for their plants, which would wither and die for lack of water without them.
然而重要的是，園藝工作有益於精神。接受照顧的人成爲照顧者。他們被需要而且有任務。許多病人期望種植和照料植物，如果不照料它們使它們缺水，就會枯萎死亡。
"The people become active and experience themselves as useful. That's good for their self-esteem," remarks Andreas Lindner, a psychologist who works at the Muenzesheim Therapy Centre, near Karlsruhe, a specialized hospital for men suffering from addictions. "Gardening helps them to overcome and accept their illness."
“人們變得更加積極和體驗有益的事。這有利於他們的自尊。”卡爾斯魯厄附近Muenzesheim治療中心的心理學家Andreas Lindner在一家專門治療男性患有毒癮的醫院工作說。“園藝工作幫助他們戰勝和接受疾病。”
Addicts are totally preoccupied with their addiction, but gardening helps them to open themselves up to the world and be aware, for the first time in a long while, of their surroundings.
成癮者完全沉浸在他們的癮中，但是園藝工作幫助他們向世界敞開心扉，並長久以來第一次瞭解到周圍的事物。
"It's very positive for therapy when it's enjoyable for the patient," Niepel says. Part of the enjoyment of gardening is that the focus, in contrast to many other therapies, is on the patient's abilities, not their disability.
“當病人覺得非常快樂的時候，該療法就非常有效。”Niepel說。園藝工作的部分樂趣在於它的焦點，跟許多其他療法不同的是，它關注病人的能力而不是他們的殘疾。
A therapist is always present in the garden with the patients, speaking with them, provoking them to think and making suggestions. The therapist can point out, for instance, how straight a tree grows.
一個治療師會一直跟病人一起在花園裏，跟他們談話，激發他們去想和提出建議。例如，該治療師可以指出這棵樹長得多筆直啊。
"The people then automatically straighten their backs, remembering that they, too, stand upright," Neuberger says. "Looking at the plants shows us our own possibilities of development."
“人們就會自然而然地直起他們的背，記住他們自己也挺直。”Neuberger說，“看着這些植物，展示了我們自身發展的可能性。”
(恆星英語學習網原創內容,轉載請註明出處!)
