In a world often filled with negativity, it’s important to find things that make us happy and have a positive effect on our mental health. This is where various hobbies can step in and help us feel better about ourselves and the world. In case your hobby of choice is gardening, you’ll be glad to hear that it comes with many amazing mental health benefits. If you want to learn more, keep on reading.
1. Exercise helps your mental wellbeing
First of all, you are surely aware of the fact that all parts of your body are connected to each other in one way or another. With that in mind, it’s only normal that your level of fitness has an effect on your mental health. When you exercise, your brain releases endorphins that play a big part in lowering anxiety levels and boosting your mood.
It’s good news then that gardening is also a form of exercise. Depending on the size of your garden, taking care of your plants can provide you with a good workout. You might have to dig holes, drag heavy bags full of soil, move the garden beds and plant containers, mow and rake the lawn, and so on.
As you’ll be moving your body in various ways, you’ll get a chance to improve your flexibility and work out different muscle groups. There are even studies that show that three hours of gardening can have the same results as spending an hour at the gym.
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2. It can boost your mood
Just like a release of endorphins can boost your mood, so can spending time outside. If you have the opportunity to keep your garden outdoors, taking care of it means that you will get to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine on a daily basis. In addition to providing us with the essential vitamin D, sunshine also triggers the release of serotonin and stimulates the production of melatonin.
Serotonin is a hormone that keeps us positive and productive while also acting as a mood stabilizer. Getting enough of it is crucial in order to prevent anxiety, depression, and lethargy. On the other hand, melatonin is known as the sleep hormone that regulates our circadian rhythm. This means that gardening can also improve your sleeping habits.
What is more, even if you are short on space and have to place your garden indoors, there are still amazing mood-boosting perks that you will get to experience as plants have the ability to filter out toxins from the air you are breathing.
3. You will feel more accomplished
A great way to improve your mental health is to feel a sense of accomplishment. Well, this is exactly what taking care of plants and seeing them thrive can provide you with. If you start feeling anxious about the future or feeling like your life is lacking meaning, seeing your plants develop can help ground you and pull you back from thinking negative thoughts.
It doesn’t matter if you opt for a veggie or a flower garden, you will give yourself a purpose and some responsibility. If you tend to your plants regularly and adequately, you will have something to show for it. So, keep that in mind every time you go to get the retractable hose reel and water your plants. In order to see your plants thrive, however, you have to provide them with the optimal environment, invest in quality equipment, and learn plenty about them.
4. You’ll get a chance to reconnect with nature
Regardless of whether you have a little indoor garden or a spacious backyard, tending to plants will allow you to reconnect with nature. We already listed various ways how being around greenery can help boost your mood, but you can also use your plants to create an oasis for yourself where you will escape the outside world and do some meditating.
Even if you don’t like to meditate, you can still make a little nook and enjoy the safe space you’ve created. You can focus on the calming sounds, sights, and scents and simply forget about everything else for at least a couple of minutes.
5. There are new friends to be made
It doesn’t matter if you’re an introvert or an extrovert, you will find it easy to make friends thanks to this hobby. For an extrovert, socializing is a big part of their mental health, and if you can relate to that, you’ll find it easy to make friends at the local nursery with both the workers and other customers. Doing this will improve your social health, which is another important aspect of your overall health and well-being.
On the other hand, introverts can also feel good when they chat with someone about their common interests, whether in person or online. Moreover, this is a great way to learn more about the plants you are growing.
If you’re thinking about taking up gardening, hopefully, reading about these amazing mental health benefits of gardening convinced you that it is a great hobby to adopt. On top of it all, you’ll be in great physical shape, and you might even get tasty food out of it.
