Let’s spend 2021 out in the garden; who’s in?
Spending time outside is good for you, but there are many reasons why gardening is one of the healthiest activities you can do.
Good For The Mind
Gardening is a fantastic hobby for anyone who suffers from mental health issues, and right now, that is pretty much everyone!
There’s a lot of stress going around in the world right now, and we could all do with the break from real life. Gardening is the perfect way to get away from it all without having to go on holiday.
Good For Releasing Anger
This is a bit of a funny one to start with, the idea that gardening is good for releasing anger, but all gardeners will know that grabbing your landscaping tools and doing some angry digging is a great way to remove the frayed nerves and get some of that frustration out.
The bonus is that anger can be a great motivator, letting you get more of the digging done than you might have done beforehand!
Amazing For Stress Reduction
Just as gardening is good for releasing the anger that can build up within us, it is also a great way to release the day’s stresses.
It is almost physically impossible to be on your phone doom scrolling through social media and being pestered by out of hours emails, which means you have a great option to relax and chill out, avoiding all of the outside world stresses and letting your worries melt away.
Good For The Immune System
A few years ago in the UK, there was a campaign by a laundry manufacturer called “Dirt Is Good”. This campaign was specifically put together because science has been telling us that we live in a state of ultra cleanliness, which is BAD for our health.
If you have concerns about your low immune system, one of the best things you can do is get out and get muddy and dirty, this will expose you to germs and bugs in a safe way and build your immune system.
Builds A Sense of Responsibility
There is a big lack of responsibility in the world right now; many people are afraid of taking responsibility and being assertive; how does this equate to gardening?
Quite simply, looking after a garden, even just a little plant on the windowsill, gives you a sense of responsibility for another living being, and that can be a powerful feeling that will have an impact on your life.
Lovely For The Senses
There are very few other hobbies that are such a wealth of joy for the senses than gardening can provide. The smell of the plants, the feel of the dirt on your fingers, the sound of the birds, and of course, the taste of your freshly grown vegetables!
Gardening is sometimes used in care homes to help patients who have dementia to cope with life a little easier, as the sensory aspect of gardening is helpful.
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