Improving your health takes commitment and perseverance, it’s not always easy to create healthy habits over night. It’s helpful to find healthy activities that you enjoy, to improve your self-care routine. Gardening can improve your health in many different ways, from growing your own foods, to improving your fitness, let’s take a look.
1 . Grow delicious foods
Gardening gives you the chance to grow lots of delicious foods. You’ll save money on your grocery bills, and get yourself some tasty organic produce. Growing your own foods is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and improve your wellbeing. There are lots more benefits to growing your own vegetables, such as:
- You can go natural and avoid pesticides.
- Store bought veggies are often picked early, (meaning they may be less nutritious).
- Teach your family about growing foods and living sustainably.
2. Raise endorphin levels
Scientific studies show that being around plants helps to raise our endorphin levels. Our bodies need to release endorphins to help us to feel happy, energized and content. One study from Science Focus indicated that, ‘people who garden every day have wellbeing scores 6.6 per cent higher and stress levels 4.2 per cent lower than people who do not garden at all.’
3. Get more exercise
Gardening is a great form of exercise, it might not seem as vigorous as going for a run, but you’d be surprised just how many calories you burn. Regular exercise is essential for both our physical and mental health. Not everyone is a fan of the treadmill, and gardening is a great alternative fitness activity. When you are gardening be mindful of your back when bending down, and be careful when lifting. Yoga stretches can help you keep your muscles strong, and prep for lifting activities.
4. Learn new things
According to the Harvard Business Review, learning new things is incredibly beneficial for your overall health. Gardening can teach us plenty of new things, from types of flowers, to growing foods and facts about wildlife. To support your learning journey, check out gardening apps like Moon & Lunar Garden, and What’s That Flower? There are also plenty of gardening podcasts with tips and tricks to share. The more you learn, the better your gardening skills will become.
5. A calming activity
Gardening has been associated with many different health benefits including reduced stress and lowered blood pressure. It’s a calming and therapeutic activity which can help us to unwind. When stress levels become unmanageable this can have a hugely negative impact on our health. It’s important that we all have coping tactics, whether it’s calming activities or herbal supplements.
When you’ve spent a long while perfecting your garden you won’t want pests to come and spoil your plants. To help you manage pests, contact your local pest control service. You can get help with many different types of pests, whether it’s spider pest control, ants or even rodents.