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Silverpebble

silver jewellery - botanical photography - illustration

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My name’s Emma Mitchell: designer-maker, naturalist, illustrator, mum and now author. I’m an ardent fan of cake, yarn and hedgerows. I’ll pop a brew on if you’re staying… Read More…

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  • In the September chapter of my book #TheWildRemedy (link in profile) the season shifts, I seek a tiny late-flowering orchid & hear the whisper song of a young male wren (2nd photo). Each encounter with nature, however small, lifted my thoughts & helped my recovery from the bout of suicidal depression I’d survived earlier in the year. 
It was the sight of some sycamore saplings, the soothing hint of green, that had moved my mind away from its darkest place. I sought help from the NHS & they were amazing, but day to day it was watching birds in our garden, taking walks in the wood when I became well enough, & getting my hands in the soil of our little garden that scooped my mind up when it fell down holes full of exhaustingly difficult & dangerous thoughts. 
I write about the compelling science that explains why humans feel better when we spend time among trees & plants, cultivate the land or gather nature finds, edible or otherwise. We evolved in wild places, they were our high streets, our pharmacies, supermarkets & builders’ merchants. We no longer need to gather medicinal leaves or hazel withies but if we do spend 15 minutes or so in a green place  several times a week there is strong evidence that most people’s mental health will improve. Our biochemistry shifts significantly, we feel less anxious, more positive & the effects last.

Some truly brilliant well known people have read my book & written kind words about it, it’s been featured on the radio & in newspapers, which is wonderful, but the most meaningful messages come from those who have bought it & found solace & perhaps even a new way of living in its pages.

Since I researched and wrote the book I know I’m more well, more able to deal with life’s stresses & less prone to dark thoughts if I get out into our garden, the wood or any green space (parks/waste ground work well) every day if possible. 
Might you know someone who struggles with low mood/anxiety, especially as days get shorter?

My book may help them.
 I’d so love to hear if nature helps you, or if you’ve read my book & found it useful.

EDITED TO ADD: TWR is available in the US, in Barnes & Noble & some independent retailers.
  • A greyish dreich autumn has descended here in the East of England today, plus it’s Monday, one of the least cheery places in the week. Dampness, cloud and the end of the weekend can flatten mood, so I think a vibrant flashback is needed. 
There’s a tiny table outside a house in Wicken, a Fenland village near here, that for at least 6 months of the year is covered in a cluster of buckets filled with flowers grown on a tiny strip of land. Have a peep at the second image for a glimpse of the joyful crops at their peak . Each generous bunch of botanical colour costs 80p (yes, 80p), an old pan stands in for an honesty till and there are no flower miles involved. The joy these flowers bring is hard to describe. I’ve often set out across the Fen with a pound or two in my pocket and brought home cornflowers, dill, nigella, marigolds and zinnias. 
As I’ve said here before, research shows that vivid brights, especially ones conjured by nature, can shift the balance of our neurotransmitters and turn the dial of our thoughts away from gloom. The flowers I’ve bought from the tint honesty florist have always lifted my mood. So, if you’re feeling rather low and you live near a florist or you have bright blooms in your garden, go and treat yourself to a posy or two of floral antidepressants and arrange them by your bed. Your brain will feel the better for it. If you do so and you photograph them please tag me as I’d truly love to see. 
What are your favourite cheering flowers? Roses? Hydrangeas? Simple daisies? A mixed jumble of homegrown and wild flowers? Do tell...
  • I honestly think that fruits and vegetables are as beautiful as flowers.

These tomatoes (and a few rogue chillis that crept in here because of those beautiful shades of green) were all grown by my other half. They seem to glow from within like little edible lanterns. Earlier in the year I bought us a tiny greenhouse and it’s now an absolute JUNGLE of tomato vines suffused that headily delicious herb-green smell of their foliage. 
There is strong evidence that gardening even indoors really improves mental health through contact with beneficial soil bacteria, inhalation of plant oils and the ‘harvest high’. Gardening is immensely effective at alleviating my depression. My flowerbeds are like pharmacy cabinets for me (only I don’t eat my dahlias). Do you garden? When you spend time among your plants how does it make you feel? I’d so love to hear. 
PS THANKYOU for your lovely encouraging welcome back to these colourful squares and for your thoughts on my previous photo. I’m working my way through and hope to reply to everyone x
  • It’s been a tough year. Family difficulties have meant that I’ve been away from Instagram for four months. This is a wonderful, creative, encouraging place but is fast moving & frenetic & I confess that to be here regularly required more brain space than I had to spare. I missed it terribly, but  things have eased, so I’m back, with pencils sharpened and secateurs poised to bring you my seasonal garden and hedgerow finds as usual, along with a smattering of science to explain why increasing our connection with nature really can help to stem the worldwide epidemic of mental illness.

There’s evidence that images of nature, either paintings or photographs, can lift mood and alleviate anxiety. Research also shows that bright colours can alter the way we feel for the better, especially if the hues shift to form an ombré.

I’ve been gathering late summer flowers from our garden & raiding the local honesty farm shop for a little extra colour. 
I’d SO love to hear in the comments how this image makes you feel. If you know someone who might like to join in with this instaexperiment please tag them below...
  • • Garden solace •

When there are tricky days, like there have been for me recently, getting outside among trees and plants can shift the tone of your thoughts. You don’t have to go to a wild place though. 
As you brush past or pot up the plants in your garden their leaves will release oils called phytoncides. When we inhale these compounds our stress hormone levels, pulse rate & blood pressure drop, we feel calmer and gently uplifted. If we harvest fruit, veg or flowers we’ve grown we get a burst of dopamine-a vestige of ancient hunter gatherer pathways. When we come in contact with soil a benign bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae can trigger the release of serotonin, which boosts mood. As it’s #mentalhealthawarenessweek I’d like to wave a small green flag for gardening-oh and plants grown indoors will have the same mentally beneficial effect. You can read more in my book which is still just £5.99 (link in profile) 
Our smallish back garden has been a source of this soily solace for me in recent weeks and some of my favourite spring plants have come into bloom. All the flowers you see here are from our patch and picking them to put in a jug or jamjar is so cheering.
  • • Living garlands •

My neighbours have been training this wisteria across their beautiful 18th century cottage for 25 years. It’s painstakingly done and it’s at its mauve, deeply scented peak just now. It barely looks real and is truly a heavenly sight. We keep walking across the village to take a peep at it. Have you come across any lovely floral sights in the last few days? I’d love to hear about them...
  • • April nature diary •

In March last year I was extremely unwell: a severe bout of depression took hold and I was barely able to move. The NHS was wonderful but what helped me through each day as April began was starting to watch the birds that visited our garden. Later in the month I began to go on short nature walks in the wood behind our cottage once more. 
I had already begun to write my year-long nature and mental health diary #TheWildRemedy (link in profile) when I fell ill. I had  read research from the University of Exeter showing that simply seeing greenery through a window can benefit mental health and that the effect was increased if birds were in that greenery, I bought a feeding station and enough seed & fatballs for a Michelin-starred bird café. 
I fully illustrated the April chapter of my book, as I did for each month and I share the tweety antics of our resident blackbird (we’ve called him Steve and he’s got two chicks in his current nest) and the small signs of spring I discovered in the hedgerows near here. I also describe the changes in my mood as I record the seasonal changes in and make collections from my local patch. 
If you know someone who is low or who is having a stressful time my book may help them. I’ve received so many messages from readers saying that they have begun to take short walks or notice small details of nature and that this kept them going through dark days. #TheWildRemedy just £5.99 just now and includes over 100 of my drawings.
  • • Garden solace •

The last two months have been tough, both mentally and physically. Flu, post viral fatigue, huge levels of stress, the return of my old foe depression all flocked at once and consequently I took a break from here. 
My garden, pretty much a blank canvas since our building work last year, has been medicinal in recent weeks. I don’t mean I’ve been nibbling on my plants, though my herbs are doing very well since I planted them in an old wheelbarrow. I’m referring to the benefits of spending time among plants and getting hands in the soil. Phytoncides (plant oils) are released when we garden, which trigger a myriad of changes in many of our body systems, leading to lifted mood and a feeling of calm. Benign bacteria in the soil trigger release of serotonin that can bring a feeling of wellbeing and when we pick and arrange a few flowers (or bonny weeds) we’ve grown then dopamine can be released, leading to a natural high.

This is a snapshot of what’s growing right now. Spring has been here for a few weeks and the gentle colours of my garden flowers form a spring palette filled with mauves and blues. 
It’s lovely to feel well enough to be back. Thankyou for sticking around while I was away x

Edited to add: I’ll add the list of plants shown here to my stories tomorrow 🌿
  • • Snowdrop elation •

The floral year has begun. These small humble flowers are beginning to emerge across the country, pushing up through damp claggy earth and adding a drop of light to dark days. The snowdrop emerges in winter but draws our minds towards spring. 
The snowdrop has a gorgeous set of colloquial names: Fair maids of February, dingle-dangle, snow-piercer, Mary’s tapers and Candlemas bells. These little blooms are steeped in folklore and are a symbol of hope. 
I painted snowdrop shoots (bottom LH part of this picture) for the January chapter of #thewildremedy (link in profile). The sight of their shoots pushing up through grass brought me elation, a burst of joy and watching them open helped me through the early weeks of 2018. Have you spotted any yet? I’d love to hear about it. Oh and if you see, gather or photograph some do tag your photos with #thewildremedy this week. I’d so love to see them...
Thankyou again for the gorgeous response to my book here on Instagram. I’m blown away by the kind words and am so thrilled that you’re enjoying it xx
  • • Wander,collect & heal •

In my book (link above) I gently encourage readers to get outside for brief walks. Within 10-15 minutes our biochemistry responds in several ways to the oils we inhale from the grass, wild plants and trees we are walking on and among. These responses lift mood, alter stress hormone levels significantly and shift the dials on our circulatory system. We feel more relaxed, uplifted, less ‘wired’ and the effects last for several hours. 
These physiological pathways linking us to wild places and in particular the plants within them will have been laid down thousands of years ago. Our bodies and minds respond to woodland, gardens and the recreation ground/park up the road because we evolved in green landscapes and found food, building/crafting materials and medicine there. Most of us are now disconnected from nature for most of our lives but if we re-introduce it by getting outside, even once or twice a week, we have the potential to alleviate anxiety and depression. Scottish doctors are now ‘prescribing’ nature walks alongside anti-depressants and counselling for these diagnoses. 
While you’re walking seek out small nature finds like the ones shown here in my collection: a sprig of hawthorn berries, an empty shell, a lichen-covered twig, a snowdrop. You will tap into foraging pathways which help to boost mood, you’ll immerse yourself more deeply in your environs, helping to muffle input from daily stresses and you’ll learn more about the wildlife in your patch. If you go on a walk, spot catkins or gather nature finds do tag your images with #TheWildRemedy. I’ll be selecting my favourites and posting on my stories.

Meanwhile THANKYOU for all your kind words and posts about my book. A reprint was ordered after 10 days of being published which blew me away entirely. I’ll be talking about it on @bbcradio4 soon... Note: this is an antique French printers’ tray full of some of my finds from last year, inspired by displays at the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge & Victorian cabinets of curiosity.
  • • Craving colour •

I photographed some snowdrops today, I did. I adore them and I will post my picture of the Fair Maids of February in a day or two but I confess the slate grey skies made me crave brights for this evening’s post.

This is a snapshot of flowers picked from my cutting patch and topped up from the honesty farm shop last July. It was the first time I had given over an area of the garden to growing flowers for bringing indoors. As I was recovering throughout the warmer months the bouquets I was able to make were incredibly uplifting. Watering, dead-heading and weeding these few square metres of floral jumble brought me into contact with the beneficial bacterium Mycobacteium vaccae. This non-pathogenic soil bacterium triggers the release of serotonin in the human brain. Gardening is itself a form of antidepressant and cultivating these cutting flowers was such an important part of my recovery. 
If your eyes were longing for jewel-like colour too I hope this answered their need... EDITED TO ADD: please to follow my pal Benjamin @higgledygarden because most of these cut flower seeds came from his small but beautifully formed shop. Plus he lives on a narrow boat (in summer it is festooned with flowers) with his pal Flash the Visla and all seed orders are accompanied by a letter hand-written by Ben in an antique fountain pen.  Heaven 🌿
  • • Collection 1: mid January •

Thankyou *so* much for all your kind and understanding words about my absence and the things I spoke about in my last post. Thankyou also for your incredible encouragement about my new book. If you order a copy (link in profile) I so hope it helps on tricky days. 
One of the ways in which I find the natural world incredibly soothing and helpful for my mental health is to make collections. I have been sharing groups of small seasonal nature finds on Instagram for four years now and far longer than that on my blog. The process of seeking and gathering a small sprig of blossom, a cluster of catkins, an empty snail shell and a tiny cage of dry lichen can quieten your mind, dial down signals from your fight or flight response and taps into our ancient foraging pathways. We gain a mental reward, a natural ‘harvest high’ in our brains when we gather nature finds. We can harness and nurture these pathways and responses to help boost our mood.

You may think that January in the northern hemisphere holds a bleak prospect for a naturalist seeking collections. In fact there is more to find than you might think: birch catkins, a kestrel feather, Viburnum bodnantense blossom (more on this wonderful shrub in a future post), a brave early native primrose and the very first snowdrops. It is a subtle collection with a fragile beauty but reflects January perfectly: a very little painterly colour and the prospect of a greener season to come. What have you found recently? I love to hear of signs of spring or unexpected treasures if you’ve been out on nature walks...

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