Being in the woods, strolling through the forest, or being surrounded by green has been proven to be good for wellbeing. You can extend that extraordinary feeling by working on your beautiful garden. Not only will you benefit from the gorgeous flowers, but even the smallest space can give you the opportunity to soak up some peace and mental health benefits.
Why You Should Try Gardening for Mental Health
Working on a hobby, like gardening or DIY projects, can refocus your mind on a more positive outcome. That focus promotes better mental health!
1 – Stress Reduction
A gardening hobby is something that can help reduce your stress levels. It increases the flood of dopamine in your system, and that influx of happy hormones can reduce the impact that the stress hormone, cortisol, has on your system. Reducing the stress hormone has a positive effect on your whole body.
For many, they don’t realize how stressed they are until the stress they have been feeling starts to lessen.
The more you do that makes you happy, the happier you become because the dopamine keeps getting topped up.
2 – Green Colors Calm the Mind
When we see the color green, there is a lot that happens in our brains and pretty quickly too. You might’ve read about the psychology of color, and green is one that gives us a feeling of calm. Yes, the color green provides us with a sense of calm. This is why almost all offices will have a range of plants, both real and fake.
Green has also been shown to help with creativity too. Making it a big deal for creatives, and those looking to feel calm and yet productive.
3 – Vitamin D
We all know that we need a heap of vitamins and minerals to give our bodies the right fuel to perform all of the functions. However, vitamin D is one that many of us are lacking in. Since most of us work in the house or in an office rather than outside – we simply don’t get enough.
It is likely that you will still need a supplement. But, getting outside in the garden for a few hours at the weekend and for at least ten or more minutes a day can significantly increase the vitamin D in your system.
It usually helps you to plan what you will do on each of the days—mowing the lawn on your Bradley Mowers stand-on lawnmower, pulling the weeds from the raised flower beds, or checking how your compost is doing. Keeping you looking forward and with purpose.
4 – Growth
Like your garden, you are going to grow in the process. Taking plants from seed or sapling into full bushes, trees, and wildflower gardens is a job. Something will always need to be tended to and take care of. When doing these types of tasks, we give our brains a rest from work and other pressures.
You are needed by your garden in order for it to flourish; you need to show up and take care of it. When you are ready, you can even choose to have some notoriously difficult plants to look after.
The Bottom Line on Gardening for Mental Health
The best thing is that your garden doesn’t even need to be significant in size. It could be a small square, or simply some pots on a balcony. Gardening for mental health need not be complicated. Use this time relaxing, gardening, and improving mental health.
She has a B.S.Ed. in Secondary Education/English and a Spanish Minor. In addition, she holds a Certificate in Natural Health from a fully-accredited program and is a Certified Herbologist. She pursued these natural wellness certifications due to her love for herb gardening.
Despite freelancing to make a living, her love is "all things home."
Deborah grew up in a family that grew a large vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, helping her parents pull weeds and can home-grown foods as part of her childhood. In fact, she had no idea that she could purchase veggies and fruits in pre-packed steel cans until she went to college and made a food run.
Today, she lives in Bertie County, North Carolina, an agricultural rural area with more chickens than people. She lives with her husband and two rescue pets a sweet toy fox terrier and a cat who showed up one day and moved into the house. Together, they enjoy DIY projects, furniture refinishing, gardening, and canning.
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