If you decide to grow herbs, vegetables, or even flowers, you could sell this produce at the local greenmarket and earn money from gardening. However, the financial aspect of nurturing plants is overshadowed by the health benefits of gardening. From relieving stress to helping you stay in shape, gardening improves your well-being on several plains.
Combating stress
Stress might seem like a personal issue but it’s actually a global problem, as we can speak of a real stress pandemic. We are constantly stressed out because there are always new tasks being set before us and we worry whether we’ll be able to meet them.
In this sense, the garden provides us a refuge from the hustle and bustle of the modern world that is the main stressor. There are no phone calls or annoying people inside the garden, as we spend time outside in nature. The relief is physical as well since the color green has been proven to rest our eyes.
An opportunity to socialize
We are discussing both gardening at home and gardening at community plots. The latter is a great way for urban folks to get together and socialize while de-stressing at the same time. On large estates, there can be tens of urban gardeners like yourself, so you are bound to find a companion. Sharing experiences and simply talking about gardening has a beneficial effect as well.
Spending time with your family
Apart from meeting new people and making friendships with fellow gardeners, cultivating your land provides you with the opportunity to (re)connect with your family. Grandparents and their grandchildren get on particularly well.
Gardening is useful because age plays no role, so all members of the family can take up this hobby and spend quality time together. As an extra benefit, children get to learn about nature, and parents/grandparents get to enjoy the little ones’ smiles.
(Re)inventing your purpose in life
When adults play with children, they invigorate themselves, reinventing their personalities, and find a purpose in life. These benefits might seem trivial but they are at the basis of mental well-being. Gardening requires a hands-on approach in which plants depend on you.
You are basically their caregiver, meaning that you have a clear purpose in life, which is something many people struggle with as they grow older. The greatest thing about flowers is the fact they won’t let you down: give them sufficient sunlight, water, and nutrients and they’ll repay your care by growing verdant and blossomy.
A sense of control
As mentioned earlier, one of the biggest stress factors is the inability to control the events that unfold in your life. If you feel like you’re losing control, gardening allows you to become in charge once more.
You are the one deciding what to plant, you are the one deciding on the color of mulch, you are the one choosing the length of the garden hose and you are the one deciding what to do with flowers and vegetables.
Inside the garden, you have absolute control, helping you build self-confidence in the world outside the garden fence.
Reducing the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s
Medical studies constantly confirm the effect gardening has on our brain by improving concentration and preventing memory loss. Alzheimer’s and dementia are among the top illnesses of this sort, so you shouldn’t be surprised that seniors often start gardening after they retire.
Connecting with nature adds purposefulness to the lives of people who are at high risk of dementia. While cultivating the garden, individuals have to constantly learn new things, solve problems, and often endure punishing weather conditions, building up their strength, both mental and physical.
Staying in shape
Alongside improved dexterity, gardening is actually a pretty good workout. Walking around the garden, mowing the lawn, leaning constantly, shoveling, raking, pulling out weeds, and digging all constitute an excellent training session designed to suit people of all ages.
The lack of physical activity is one of the main causes of modern ailments such as obesity and various heart conditions. If you lead a sedentary lifestyle but decide to become a gardener, then you’ll get your daily portion of physical activity without ever leaving your property.
As an extra perk, after you’re done gardening for the day, you’ll immediately fall asleep.
Always in the present moment
The reason why people tend to worry too much is that they are overinvested either in the past or in the future. Living in the present moment has become a dream for many, so they take up Yoga and similar activities to regain inner balance.
Often enough, Yoga classes are held in parks, so you can lay a yoga mat in your backyard, surrounded by the garden. When meditating, you clear your mind, just like you are fully focused on mulching or watering. Gardening is actually an exercise for the mind to keep it in the present moment.
Improving your general well-being through gardening is super easy, as you can grow a garden of a meter by meter plot of land. It is the impact of nurturing plants that counts since your mental and physical health will benefit greatly.
Comments are closed.