When you think about it, it’s not that hard to see the similarities between exercising and gardening. They both support your mental and physical well-being and they both positively affect your mood. Raking, mowing, and trimming are just 3 activities that can improve your physical fitness while gardening. Here are more gardening tips and benefits that will support your mind and body.
1. Helps Improve Your Diet
Having a garden means you are in control of how and when you harvest your food. Growing your own food can seem intimidating but it’s very simple. You decide on what fertilizers to use and what pesticides may come in contact with your food. By gardening, you create a more diverse and healthy diet for yourself.
Food in its freshest form is packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Start small and plant foods that you would want to eat. Fruits and vegetables such as strawberries, raspberries, lettuce, and carrots are just a few of the easiest produce that you can grow at home.
2. Improve Your Mental Health
Not only is it stretching your muscles, but gardening also promotes better mental health. Being able to connect with nature through a garden is a great way to enhance your well being, while boosting your energy. When completing each gardening task, you can take time for yourself and focus on being present. As a form of therapy, gardening has been shown to decrease feelings of anxiety, stress, and depression.
3. Supports a Healthy Immune System
Gardening just might be the answer to your sniffles and coughs this pollen and flu season. Research shows that beneficial bacteria in the soil may help strengthen your immune system. Coneflowers, elderberries, aloe vera, and garlic are all great plants to have in your garden to help support a healthy immune system. Being out in nature gives you a chance to soak up a lot of sunshine and get vitamin D, which is essential for our overall health.
4. Promotes Better Brain Health
While your plants are growing, your mindset is also growing. Being in a garden promotes the ability to constantly learn. Studies have shown that being productive in the garden can help stimulate your brain and lower the occurrence of dementia.
Helpful Gardening Tips
Now that you’ve learned some of the benefits of gardening, here are a few helpful tips once you get the job started.
- Be safe with any physical activity you do and that includes gardening. Use the proper form to help prevent any pain or injuries from occurring.
- While gardening you should wear gloves, proper workout clothing and sunscreen and make sure to clean your tools regularly.
- Alternate between gardening activities to avoid exhaustion.
- Create a gardening routine. For example, start with some stretches and finish off watering your plants to cool down.
- Stretch and wash your hands after gardening to keep yourself safe from illness or injury
The photo above is by Leigh Skomal on Unsplash.
To find out more benefits to gardening as well as tips for gardening your day to better health, check out the infographic below.
Attribution for the graphic.