If you need a little extra motivation, here are some amazing health benefits that gardening has to offer. No matter what age you are, gardening is a physical activity that has a lot of surprising health benefits.
Gardening, especially, is associated with a sense of mental clarity and accomplishment and has numerous physical benefits. Gardening also provides a social connection to others, whether in one’s own backyard or in a community garden. The social interaction provided by communal gardening projects, as well as therapeutic gardens, to people with learning disabilities and ill mental health may offset social isolation.
There are also successful schemes involving volunteers helping older adults who are not able to tend a garden, where both volunteers and owners benefit from social interaction as well as from produce and shared interests. The gardening community is replete with people who are willing to lend their knowledge, time, and sometimes plants to new gardeners. People with disabilities, seniors, and children may find spending time in their gardens to tend plants and grow food of their own particularly helpful.
Being outside and doing yard work can not only provide some physical activity and produce some meals; it can also be mentally beneficial. A 30-minute, moderate-level physical activity most days of the week is recommended, and gardening is a simple way to get that heart pumping without pushing too hard.
You can also burn a lot of calories doing an hour of light gardening and yard work than walking moderately at the same pace for the same time. Gardening can be only one of the ways you reach your goal of 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity exercise per week, as it provides the beneficial motivation to get you there, as opposed to treadmills or other equipment.
The pulling, digging, reaching, twisting, and curling of a garden amounts to easy aerobic exercise, improving heart and lung health, helping to prevent obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, certain types of cancer, and more. Working in a garden rebuilds dexterity and strength, and the aerobic exercises involved help you to burn as many calories as you would at a gym. From grabbing big rakes to pinching tiny seeds and propagating plants, gardening keeps your muscles and joints in great shape.
There is also a sense of achievement attached to it. For instance, the hard work that goes into preparing the perfect garden soil can feel so rewarding when you finally end up with beautiful plants that make the place look so attractive. To go a bit extra, you can also add Tuscan toppings to separate the garden from the parking area. This detailing will take the style game to the next level.
Even if you do not have green thumbs, there are plenty of health benefits – physical and mental – to digging in the dirt and doing a little plant-spreading. While gardening is easier on your body than running or climbing, it does not mean that you should not be sure to keep safe and know certain tips that will make the experience better. You are going to have to keep yourself in check when you are doing your yard work. As is the case with just about every activity, yard work does have some risks for your health and safety.
If you are not used to this kind of activity, you may get a little tired after a vigorous afternoon of gardening. Even if you are not suffering from chronic stress or anxiety, gardening is almost guaranteed to improve your mood. Gardening soothes you after stressful events. Working in the garden helps you recover from something stressful.
In addition to decreasing anxiety and depression, gardening may reduce the chances of having a heart attack or stroke. Gardening reduces stress and improves mental clarity, and it can help to prevent everything from coronary heart disease to colon cancer. Gardening may help safeguard memory as you age. Doctors have also known for a while that exercise enhances cognitive function in the brain.
Gardens may also help to increase parity between treatments for mental and physical disabilities. In a 2014 review of studies, analysts found that gardening therapy – using gardens to enhance mental well-being – can be effective in treating people with dementia.
While there are a few studies focusing on how gardening is an excellent therapy treatment for dementia patients, there are studies also showing that gardening is one of the many activities that can potentially prevent dementia.
Research shows older adults who garden have better hand strength and pinching power, self-esteem, and general physical health. A 2017 meta-analysis also linked gardening to increased quality of life and reduced mood disorders.
All in all, gardening can be a mood enhancer. Studies conducted both in the U.S. and overseas found that gardening enhances mood and increases self-esteem. Which, in turn, helps people to feel good about themselves and others.