Posted by Tony | President, Defenders of Freedom Oklahoma
I never expected peace to come through plants.
When I got out of the military, my body made it home—but my mind didn’t. I was still locked in survival mode. TBI. PTSD. Chronic pain. Years of stress, trauma, and medications had left me spiraling.
I’d tried everything to feel normal again.
But nothing stuck—until I got my hands in the soil.
🌱 Ground Zero for Healing
Gardening wasn’t a hobby. It became a lifeline.
When I first started working the land, I wasn’t trying to “relax.” I was trying to feel. Anything. But something unexpected happened. The rhythm of watering, weeding, planting, and harvesting began to regulate my nervous system.
Sunlight replaced the sterile flicker of fluorescent lights.
Bare feet on the earth grounded my racing thoughts.
Soil microbes—yes, real biology—lifted my depression.
There’s a microbe in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, that actually interacts with the brain and boosts serotonin—something most of us veterans are running low on. Touching dirt literally helped rebalance my brain chemistry.
Out in the garden, I didn’t find numbness. I found presence.
This wasn’t self-care.
This was trauma recovery.
🧠 Gardening = Brain Therapy
We talk a lot about healing the brain through high-tech tools.
And I’ve done them—TMS, neurofeedback, NAD+ IVs.
They changed my life.
But so did quiet. So did patience. So did rhythm.
Gardening gave me:
A reason to get up every day
Morning light to reset my hormones
Gentle movement that my body could handle
The chance to nurture life—while learning to nurture myself
Every seed I planted mirrored something inside of me.
Growth is slow. But it’s happening.
I wasn’t just growing food.
I was growing me.
🫂 What I Tell Other Warriors
You don’t need a five-acre farm to feel the shift. You just need:
A pot, a patch of dirt, or a raised bed
The willingness to be patient with yourself
Time in nature, on your own terms
Healing doesn’t always look like hospitals or clinics.
Sometimes, it looks like tomatoes. Basil. Watermelons.
It looks like sweat, soil, and sun.
It looks like coming back to life.
💡 Why This Matters
Veterans are told to “get help”—but the help isn’t always there.
What is available is:
Nature
Stillness
Breath
Sunlight
Soil
At Defenders of Freedom Oklahoma, we’re building a model of holistic healing that includes:
Brain-based medical treatment
Functional fitness and nervous system support
Regenerative gardening and outdoor therapy
This isn’t soft.
It’s strategic.
It’s how we win the war within.
And if you’re a fellow warrior stuck in the dark, I want you to know:
You’re not broken. You’re rebuilding.
You’re not lazy. You’re learning to rest.
You’re not lost. You’re remembering who you are.
You can heal.
One seed, one breath, one day at a time.
