I am never more at peace and happy than when I am working on, and surrounded by, my bonsai. This tangible, visceral connection with nature can touch us all. This is not just about bonsai – spend any amount of time in a beautifully green space and the benefits to your wellbeing and sense of balance are undeniable.
This is not just a passionate bonsai grower offering a biased view. In 2017, the World Health Organization published a report into ‘Urban Green Space Interventions and Health’. The study found that the ‘modern urban lifestyle is associated with chronic stress, insufficient physical activity [and] exposure to environmental hazards. Urban green spaces . . . can promote mental and physical health, reduce morbidity and mortality in urban residents by providing psychological relaxation and stress alleviation, stimulating social cohesion, supporting physical activity, and reducing exposure to air pollutants, noise and excessive heat.’
On a daily level, this expert opinion is easily endorsed by taking a gentle stroll through a woodland or park after a stressful day. Essentially, it is the connection with nature that triggers these multiple health benefits. Aside from the air being cleaner, being in nature creates a sense of escape from everyday life, space to reflect and relax.
However, for many people, a country walk is not an option – that may be simply due to where they live, a lack of transport or access to areas of natural greenery. Not all of us are lucky enough to regularly spend quality time in nature. That’s where bonsai can come in: your own little slice of serene nature in your home. Whether you have a balcony, a porch, a yard or a garden, you will find a bonsai that is suitable for the space you have. The beauty of bonsai is that they can encapsulate the natural wonder of green spaces and condense that into a manageable amount without losing the pure essence. Plus, you can enrich the benefits of having a bonsai in your own space by letting your imagination run free. If you have a simple, beautiful bonsai, imagine sitting underneath that tree, soaking up nature; if you have bought a landscape of several trees, then picture yourself walking through all those elegant trunks.
A bonsai aims to emulate the same species in real life. In a similar way, it is also a wonderfully rewarding pastime to try to mimic a special tree from childhood. My grandparents had a golden willow tree in their garden. I would walk underneath it, and the trailing branches would create what felt like my own little enclosed, private space. Playing in and around trees as children is an essential part of growing up. Do you fondly recall a particular tree from your childhood that you could mimic with a bonsai?
Modern life’s move away from nature has been accelerating at some pace for decades. As more people converge and populate cities, access to green space is reduced, meaning that our own little space becomes increasingly important. This becomes ever more difficult as living in cities becomes more expensive and people live in increasingly costly apartments where the outside space is limited to a balcony or a window ledge. Also, more people than ever now rent property, which often means there is less of a sense of ownership and belonging to a house and/or garden, and modern life is also making so many of us transient, whether it’s moving for work, family reasons or as a lifestyle change. However, with bonsai, the magical thing is that our potted friends can come with us anywhere, at a moment’s notice. You get to take your green space with you: just pop your bonsai in your car or on public transport and off you go . . . your own little slice of nature, wherever you are.
In such a hectic, compressed world, always remember that these wonderful little trees will provide you with a familiar, calming and stable influence. No matter what is going on in your life, your bonsai will always be there at the end of the day when you come home. It will have been sitting there waiting, it won’t judge, it won’t pressure or change what it expects of you, it is just being bonsai – calmly, slowly and serenely.
This is an extract from Be More Bonsai by Mark Akins, published by Penguin Michael Joseph
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