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Mudleaf Writing

Evidence-based thinking on mindfulness, horticulture, mental health, and the contemplative traditions — written for curious, intelligent readers who do not want to be talked down to.

Tamil Traditions · Featured

What Tamil poets knew about the mind — and what neuroscience is only now confirming

Monica Allan · June 2026 · 12 min read

The Thirukkural was written approximately 2000 years ago. Within the section on virtue there is a sustained treatment of the regulated mind that reads like a compressed version of what cognitive and affective neuroscience has taken four decades to articulate.

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Horticulture

Why working with plants reduces stress — what the evidence actually says

A 2025 systematic review confirmed that therapeutic horticulture significantly reduces depression and anxiety. Here is w...

Monica Allan · 6 min read

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Mindfulness

Mudleaf — a brand rooted in nature, and the question behind it

What really motivates people to keep growing? Mudleaf was built around that question — and around Self-Determination The...

Monica & Philip Allan · 5 min read

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Garden to Table

Why we cook the way we cook — and what the garden has to do with it

The Mudleaf Garden to Table series — recipes from a South Australian garden and a South Indian kitchen. On growing, cook...

Monica Allan · 4 min read

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No wellness newsletters. Substantive writing on mindfulness, horticulture, and the science of wellbeing — when there is something worth saying.