Gardening is one of the oldest activities mankind has engaged in. Many people participate in gardening for different reasons; to beautify their environment, as a hobby, to get fresh vegetables and spices for food, etc. However, over the years there has been more than one benefit of gardening and more people participating. It is often a recommended activity by health experts. This surge is because its benefits help humans improve their outlook daily. Find out the importance of gardening and why it helps improve our outlook.
How Gardening Helps Us Get Better
It Reduces Stress and Helps Combat Depression
Gardening has proven to help relieve stress greatly. Its relaxing feature soothes the mind and body. Here, you may see people who are on the verge of being depressed find a new meaning to life once they take up gardening as a habit. This is nature’s way of healing troubled minds. Just like people get help with master thesis, some people may attempt to get some help with their psychological condition. Gardening is a great way to soothe the mind.
Gardening is Enjoyable
Gardening is an enjoyable habit for many reasons. First, the beautiful colors and smell can produce a sense of positivity around you. This spurs people to find pleasure in doing it for long period. Also, most people are interested in beautifying their environment and gardening is a natural way to go about it.
A Great bonding technique
It is important to note that maneuvering your way around dirt can be a great bonding technique. It isn’t unusual to find family members actively involved together in looking after their garden, regardless of size. In the same vein, parents tend to imbibe the culture to their younger ones as time passes. It isn’t also surprising that soon there is a whole generation of nonprofessional gardeners picking the habit from loved ones. This way, a bond is created among family members.
It Fosters a Sense of Responsibility
Tending to a collection or collections of flowers and plants in your personal space has a way of imbibing a sense of responsibility in you. The process of working the soil and nurturing it until it brings forth life would require dedication and hard work. This is because you have to know the right time to water or fertilize the soil, as well as the tight nutrient to feed your plants. It can be likened to owning pets or children especially when you get attached to your garden. This in turn changes your outlook on life and reflects in your relationship, workplace environment, etc.
Health Benefits of Gardening
It Acts as a Form of Exercising
Coupled with helping one relax in the fact that gardening helps exercise the mind and body. Many people with issues like anxiety and physical disabilities are often encouraged to take gardening as a habit. This is because it can help you develop healthier bones, especially for aging people. The strain that comes with watering and tending to flowers has a way of keeping the mind and body alert. While it might not be an extreme sport, its effect cannot be overridden. Like killerpapers help people with their classroom activities, you can get rid of excess fat naturally through gardening. For instance, weeding the soil for half an hour can help you lose weight if done consistently. This result can be compared to losing weight through certain kinds of strenuous activities.
Boosts the Immune System
Sadly, deforestation tends to cause a lot of havoc to the human immune system. Owing to this, we are often advised to plant more trees and flowers around us. This is because plants produce a kind of bacteria that helps build the immune system. In addition to this, exposure to sunlight and fresh air in the early hours of the morning and late evenings do more good than harm to your immune system and general wellbeing. The more you tend to your plants, the more time you spend outdoors.
Maintains healthy skin
The skin also gets a fair share of the many benefits of gardening. Rather than spending a fortune on skin products, gardening is a great form of skin therapy for glowing skin. Many skin experts would recommend that you spend more time with nature to help you get rid of toxins and stress. Gardening is more like a counter effect from the body’s exposure to too many free radicals because you get natural vitamin D from the sunlight.
Encourages Eating Healthier food
Some gardeners invest in planting only beautiful flowers to decorate their immediate environment. Some others plant fresh vegetables and fruits for food. Food gardening gives you access to healthy and fresh food at all times. This is better than having to get canned soup or already processed meals that may be dangerous to your health. This in turn gives room for you to live a healthier life.
Prevents Memory Loss
This may sound a little exaggerated particularly because of the persistently large number of memory losses. However, gardening helps prevent memory loss as you age. Dementia is a common occurrence for old people but with gardening, the risk is reduced to a significant level. This is why doctors would recommend horticulture therapy for aging patients. Hence, while gardening may not cure people with chronic mental illness, it can prevent people from having one.
Hastens Healing Process
There are cases of people who do not respond to the exact treatment that have helped other people with the same case heal. Research shows that when people are surrounded by flowers, their body picks up healing at a faster rate. This is why doctors encourage relatives of patients to send flowers to their loved ones. Additionally, the practice of horticulture therapy is being given more attention because of its healing benefits to people suffering from certain Illnesses.
Conclusion
There are many ways that gardening helps improve one’s outlook from the inside out. Its benefits include the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of people. Whether professional or unprofessional, large or small scale gardening, the benefits of gardening cannot possibly be overestimated.
