The therapeutic benefits of housesitting
This blog post is all about the therapeutic benefits of housesitting. I’m talking about the mental and physical benefits that you can get from your increased interactions with animals and nature through housesitting.
Hundreds of studies have been done all over the world which evidence time and time again that spending time in the presence of animals can boost our levels of serotonin and dopamine. Serotonin regulates our mood and can aid long-term feelings of happiness and wellbeing. Dopamine is known as the “feel good” hormone as it allows us to feel happiness and pleasure as well as contributing to motivation and focus. And you can increase the amounts of these hormones in your body simply by interacting with animals regularly. Amazing.
In my book I delve deeper into several studies that research how animals can be used in therapy for conditions such as anxiety, depression, PTSD and even patients diagnosed with cardiovascular conditions. From this we can see that animals can have a positive impact on both physical and mental health. A 2008 study in Japan showed that even just eye contact between humans and dogs could increase oxytocin levels in humans. Oxytocin is known as a driving force behind bonding and care giving as well as positive feelings – it is well known as the “love” hormone. Simply looking a dog in the eye can allow us to produce a hormone which creates feelings of love and care!!
The simple fact that most animals require you to feed them, walk them, give them attention and clean up after them means that an animal gets you up and out – boosting your energy levels and giving you more of a sense of purpose. These tasks provide you with a routine which may make you feel more grounded and focused as well as feeling needed. We all need to feel needed in order to feel part of a community or ‘tribe’.
It has been shown that dog and cat owners have lower blood pressures than those who don’t own pets, and studies have even shown that a cats purr at a specific frequency has healing powers and can assist with pain relief, wound healing and muscle repair.
Doing the research for my book and finding these studies well and truly blew my mind. I knew that looking after pets made me feel great – mentally and physically – but I didn’t realise the full extent of what pets really do for us.
Once I was done researching the power that animals have on our mental and physical health, I also looked into the power of nature. The healing power of nature is a subject that I could read about all day as it is simply fascinating.
In a nutshell, what I found was that nature really can and does heal us.
Studies have shown that patients in hospital with a view of trees and natural landscapes outside their windows required less pain medication than those with a view of a brick wall. Short term memory has been shown to be improved by 20% after a walk in nature versus a walk through urban streets. Patients with anxiety, depression and eating disorders were shown to make headways in improving their lifestyles when spending more time outside and in nature throughout their treatment plans.
A 2010 study showed that walking through forest areas allows us to inhale phytoncides which increase our number of “natural killer” cells. Phytoncides are airborne chemicals given off by the forest plants. Natural killer cells are white blood cells which support the immune system, combat infections and also help to reduce the occurrence of heart disease, diabetes and even cancer!
Wild swimming has become really popular in the last few years, but it really does have some amazing health benefits. Spending some time submerged in cold water has been shown to boost dopamine levels – that’s the “feel good hormone” remember – by up to 530%, helping to relieve pain, improve wellbeing and make our nation a whole lot happier.
Crazes like wild swimming and forest bathing may have more of a charm to them now, so give them a go! Spending time in nature really can heal us.
Housesitting full time has allowed me to spend more time around animals and in nature than ever before. I always knew I was the outdoorsy type, but working office hours meant I struggled to get my fill of nature. Now, I’m often walking dogs, feeding chickens, maintaining someone’s garden or greenhouse, tending to cattle, and exploring the areas I find myself housesitting. It means I’m outside probably 50% more of the time than I was before, and I know that all of that time spend hiking, exploring and revelling in nature is doing my head and my heart a whole lot of good.
Give it a try, your mind and body will thank you!