Simply reducing stress can do the trick, but exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet are also highly recommended. Think of gardening as a multivitamin that packs many health benefits into a fun hobby! If you want to take your De Ginkgo Groen relaxation to the next level, play soothing music in the background while you work. Family gardening offers a number of benefits, including promoting healthy eating and exercise habits, as well as family bonding and stress relief.
Put the remote down and pick up the trowel, because the real thing is much better for you than watching other people’s garden makeovers on TV. Did you know that gardening burns more calories than walking? Or that the smell of the soil actually increases serotonin levels? Or that planting flowers can promote relaxation at the monk level?
Gardening isn’t just good for your physical body; it’s also a great way to relieve mental stress. Sweating by doing garden work releases endorphins, but even the simple act of being near vegetation has been shown to help instill a sense of calm and reduce anxiety. Even better, “blue space” gardens, also known as small ponds or water features, can be even more effective at eliminating stress. Customers may ask, “Why should I start growing or landscaping?” The real question in question should be, why not cultivate? Schulte’s greenhouse has the plants and resources for each client to be a successful gardener and develop those desired “green fingers”. Gardening can offer much more than adding beauty to your garden.
In addition to the exercise you get from maintaining a garden, a productive plot can also promote a better diet by providing fresh and healthy produce. The dietary guidelines recommend eating at least 2 cups of vegetables and 11/2 cups of fruit per day to get the necessary nutrients and reduce the risk of chronic disease. However, only 1 in 10 U.S. adults meet those recommendations, according to the CDC. It’s a state of focus in the present moment, and you see it a lot with meditation. One of the benefits of gardening is that you can devote all your attention to the task at hand.
This could be to make sure you take out all the weeds, plant everything in the right place, or keep an eye on your vegetables so you pick them up at the best possible time. It’s possible to get lost in what you’re doing and spend hours in your garden to make sure everything is healthy. In one study, elderly supervised residents were given a four-week lesson on caring for houseplants and were given responsibility for a plant. Compared to non-gardeners, indoor gardeners had significantly higher self-assessments of health, happiness and quality of life.
There are also some mental health benefits of gardening, says Dr. Benzil. In addition to the boost to your mood to be outdoors, there’s a sense of accomplishment you get when you watch your plants grow and bloom. These include improvements in self-esteem, teamwork, social interaction, planning, problem-solving and coping skills, as well as a passion for gardening and community that can go on throughout life. Watching your garden go from bare ground to mature produce or beautiful plants offers a sense of accomplishment.
Gardens can also help improve parity between treatments for mental and physical disabilities. Gardening, regardless of your age, is a physical activity that can bring many unexpected health benefits. “When I think about the health benefits of gardening, the most obvious first benefit is going outside and beyond,” says Gwenn Fried, horticultural therapy manager at Rusk Rehabilitation at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. But there are many more benefits for the mind, body and soul. Also check out the medicinal herbs you can grow in your garden. Over the centuries, gardens have served not only as places to grow plants, but also as spaces for people to relax, concentrate and connect with nature and each other.
Gardening is an easy activity to share and you’ll reap many benefits along with your fresh vegetables, colorful flowers, and aromatic herbs. Even better, you don’t have to wait for your plants to bloom to see those benefits. Some of them, such as stress relief, family bonding, and fun, are almost instantaneous. Preston’s sensory stimulation garden on the patio features a private entrance, raised beds, and plenty of space for things to grow.
When you pick vegetables directly from your garden, the vitamin content will be at a record high. In addition, you reduce the risk of eating vegetables that contain harmful chemicals – you know exactly what you are eating. Also, involving children in the gardening process will make them more inclined to try vegetables. Growing your own food can help lower blood pressure in many ways.
There is something wonderfully meditative about gardening, with the simple, repetitive tasks, the tranquility and the beautiful surroundings. Even in the Middle Ages, monastic gardens, maintained by monks, became a spiritual retreat not only for monks, but for the entire community. And that’s why it makes perfect sense that 42 percent of millennials would start gardening during the pandemic, according to HomeAdvisor. “What people are hungry right now is not food, but contact with something real,” Jennifer Atkinson, an associate professor at the University of Washington, explains in an interview with NPR.