Not everyone likes to tinker with soil and plants, as they find it boring, tedious and messy. But in fact, gardening is a profitable business that supports a person’s physical and mental health. So, if you often work in the garden, you can say that you regularly go to therapy. Here are a few of the benefits of gardening that you might not be aware of.
Physical activity
Most adults and children do not get enough physical activity to keep their bodies functioning normally. Gardening is an excellent way to make up for the lack of physical activity and get in shape: you dug up one garden bed, and now, you have already trained several muscle groups and burned about 250 calories. Most importantly, try not to work in the heat; otherwise, you will get heatstroke.
Improved mood
Flowers and trees evoke positive emotions in many people, especially women. Therefore, replanting flowers, pruning trees, and other activities related to caring for plants can be great to cheer you up. In addition, when a person sees the results of his long and detailed manual labour, his level of happiness hormones rises, which also positively affects mood.
Attention training
Gardening not only improves mood but also improves concentration. This is especially useful for hyperactive children who find it difficult to concentrate on any activity. Of course, while working in the garden, it is essential to monitor your child constantly because he can get hurt with garden tools, climb into nettles, eat some poisonous plant, etc.
Relief of stress and anxiety
Calm and measured gardening is a great way to relieve stress and reduce anxiety. Gardening is so peaceful that it can be considered almost meditative, so if you want to calm down and spend time alone with your thoughts, go to the garden or vegetable garden for a couple of hours.
But don’t bother too much; otherwise, the effect will be the opposite: after all, bringing yourself to exhaustion is not the best way to cope with stress.
Communication
One of the key benefits of gardening has to do with social interaction. Even inveterate introverts (people who are focused on their inner world, rarely need to communicate with others) while working in the garden, chat with neighbours over the fence, and sometimes even come to visit them.
Many older adults often go to the garden not to plant carrots and pick apples but to communicate with the same gardeners.
