Author finds health benefits in gardening 'nude'
Shawna Coronado was on 18 prescriptions daily before she started gardening nude.
That reduced her need for meds.
But lest anyone wonder whether the police frequently issue indecency violations outside the Coronado abode, the Warrenville author wants to make clear her interpretive version of "nude" involves stripping away inhibitions and stress, not clothing.
So, yes, she dons attire when uprooting Creeping Charlie. Not to worry.
The Casual Gardener, as her blog identifies her, returned to her childhood love of gardens when she moved to Warrenville a few years ago. At the time, her health was precarious and gardening was a way to keep her mind off her problems and occupied on something other than pain and inconvenience.
"For 10 years, I really suffered ill health," the 42-year-old author said. "I felt at one point I just wasn't going to survive. So I said 'I've got to do something drastic and I don't know what it is.'"
"It" turned out to be gardening.
What she quickly noticed was that her blood pressure dropped. It topped off again when she stopped working in the garden for any period of time, so she tried to eliminate those breaks.
Within three years, she'd gone from 18 prescriptions to just three.
Coronado says it was "a miracle health transformation."
"It wasn't just the garden," she said, "but being outside was a very meditative act."
What else could a marketing- and techno-savvy gardener do with those facts but share via her blog, a Web site - casualgardener.com - and through a book she released this summer, "Gardening nude."
On Wednesday she'll share her love for all things green with a book signing at Rock Bottom Brewery in Warrenville. Ten percent of the establishment's profits that night go to another of her pet projects: America in Bloom.
The nationwide group promotes community enhancement through gardening as well as environmental and lifestyle enhancements - and Coronado is working to get Warrenville rated as fully certified.
It fits her modus operandi: being more environmentally friendly and building a relationship with the community
If she had her way, Coronado would have everyone living a greener lifestyle, having a greener mindset, and helping build a stronger community in their own area.
That's where the notion of gardening nude hailed from.
"I want them to strip away their problems and get out to nature," she said. "I needed to find a way to tell people about my ideas that's creative."
"Nude," as in stripping away, fit the bill.
If you go
What: Book signing for "Gardening Nude" by Shawna Coronado of Warrenville
When: 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12
Where: Rock Bottom Brewery, 28256 Diehl Road, Warrenville
Info: Coronado writes about her gardening exploits at casualgardener.com and gardeningnude.com.