Gardening can not only be an effective way to work out but be beneficial to your mental health as well. Spending time outdoors can help to reduce stress, anger, and depression.
Another way that gardening is beneficial is that it helps to reduce the risk of various diseases like osteoporosis and stroke and improve your immune system as well.
1. Lowered Risk of Stroke
The British Medical Journal reports that gardening can help to reduce the risk of stroke or a heart attack. When looking at the 60+-year-old group of people can help to extend their lives by up to 30%.
2. Burns Calories
Depending on how long you garden and what you specifically do, gardening can potentially be a strenuous workout. One hour of simple gardening can help you burn as many as 330 calories.
If you garden for 3-4 hours it is possible to burn the same number of calories that you would from spending an hour inside the gym. That can be achieved through such basic gardening tasks as trimming hedges, mowing the lawn, or raking leaves.
It is recommended by the National Institute of Health to the garden for 30-45 minutes 3-5 times a week.
That can be the ideal solution for people who do not want to go to the gym, which makes gardening the perfect exercise for people who prefer to do low-intensity workouts.
3. Relieves Stress
Gardening is a type of exercise that can be beneficial for you since it helps with releasing endorphins. These are hormones that help you feel relaxed and satisfied.
Also, being outdoors in the sunlight can help to boost your mood. When sunlight is restricted, a kind of depression that is similar to Seasonal Affective Disorder can occur in the winter.
It has been shown by experts that the level of cortisol, a stress hormone inside your brain, can be reduced when you garden. High cortisol levels inside the brain affect an individual’s learning and memory.
4. Improves the Immune System
Being out in the sun also helps you to absorb lots of vitamin D. Briefly put, Vitamin D helps the human body absorb calcium. In turn, this can help to keep your immune system healthy and your bones strong.
Across the UK, Vitamin D deficiency is a serious problem, and according to studies, 1 in 5 people in Britain are lacking Vitamin D in their system.
Spending more time under the sun and outdoors help to increase your body’s Vitamin D levels. This allows you to be able to absorb higher levels of calcium, to make your immune system healthier and your bones stronger.
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5. Sense of Responsibility
When you garden it can provide you with a feeling of worth and a purpose. When you have living things that you are responsible to take care of, like your garden’s plants, can make you feel responsible.
It can be very beneficial for individuals who suffer from mental health problems since it is a simple activity that can keep them occupied and busy.
6. Live in the Present
When you spend time outdoors in your garden and experience the seasons changing when they occur it can help you feel more connected with the world.
It is like sitting inside of an office all day long and just having a glimpse out the window will make time go by fast.
It is New Year’s Even once again before you know it. So, spending time outdoors and experiencing the blooming flowers can be an excellent way of keeping track of time as it passes.
7. Free Anger Therapy
When you have had a bad day, just grab a shovel and do some serious digging or pruning. It can be an excellent way to eliminate the negative feelings that have built up.
Destroying unwanted weeds and brambles is a great way to express your anger since if they are not destroyed your garden could be taken over!
Distracting yourself from the stresses of life through gardening is a great form of therapy since the activity is connected with renewal and growth. Your garden space will be swamped with your plants if they are not cut down, so mo whenever you are feeling troubled.
8. Enhance Your Senses
When you spend time in your garden, it is an excellent way for your sensory system to be enhanced.
With all of the various textures, colors, and smells of the plants surrounding you can make the most of the abilities of your body. That can be especially valuable for kids who are learning about their senses.
