Medically Reviewed Tonya Russell enjoys the mind-body benefits of gardening year-round with indoor tropical plants in winter and herbs and vegetables during the growing season. Photos Courtesy of Tonya Russell After being furloughed in March of 2020 (I had been a publicist and social media manager), I was worrying a lot about what was ahead. On one of my lowest days, my fiancé persuaded me to join him outside and build a garden in the backyard of our Woodbury, New Jersey, home. We plotted out the beds and filled them with compost soil. I noticed I was becoming less and less paralyzed by my anxiety over my job as we worked. Day after day I started to look forward to our gardening work. It allowed me to be creative. It brought me joy.