With the spring season in full swing, your garden is beckoning for you to spend more time in it, as you should!
After a season mostly spent indoors, now’s the perfect time to ditch the cabin fever – and enjoy all the holistic health benefits that your spring garden has to offer.
It’s not only your garden that stands to benefit, but your physical health and mental health, too.
So, what are some practical, easy ways to get the most of your time in the garden, for a better home sanctuary, local ecosystem, and your personal wellbeing? Here are 4 habits to start including in your spring gardening routine for better holistic health.
1. Start small and reap the mental health benefits
Who has ever left their garden feeling more stressed and frazzled than when they entered it? No one. It’s probably why so many people choose gardening as a hobby, thanks to its range of mental health benefits.
Simply observing nature has proven calming effects, a natural mood boost, but interacting with it through gardening activities can have an even better effect on mental health.
For example, deciding on a gardening project, designing and planning it out and seeing it through can test your cognitive function, and improve your self-esteem. If you’ve started a vegetable garden, for example, you’ll know the joy and rewarding feeling of harvesting your first crop.
Besides this, there is also research that shows that a bacterium often found in dirt and soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, stimulates brain cells to produce more serotonin, a key hormone necessary in stabilising your mood and increasing your sense of happiness and wellbeing. Who knew?
There are also, of course, the mental health benefits linked to physical activity, and almost anyone can enjoy these. Something as simple as raking, weeding or lifting bags of compost can be good exercise, which is known to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. So – there really is a host of benefits to gardening!
2. Get physical with your personal outdoor ‘gym’
Digging, lifting, carrying, packing, planting…
They may seem insignificant on their own, but all added up, they push your body and give it a good dose of exercise, which contributes to better physical health.
Gardening for exercise is a great, cost-effective motivator to get back into your garden in the new season, and help it bloom into its potential.
Start small with digging, filling and composting your garden beds or lawn for moderate activity. If you’re looking for more of a workout, pushing a wheelbarrow, mowing the lawn or weeding a section of your garden will do the trick. It’s about balance, and enjoying your outdoor space, so listen to your body and do what is comfortable on the day.
3. Start or add to your herb garden
The list of habits for gardening for holistic health would not be complete without mention of the health benefits of growing herbs in your spring garden.
Life is a garden in which you can grow herbs for their culinary, medicinal, cosmetic, aromatic and decorative qualities. Herbs are a space-conscious, easy and cost-effective way to start taking advantage of your medicine cabinet in your back yard. Plus, select the right ones, and you can boost the biodiversity of your garden by attracting wildlife.
For example, popular options like thyme, oregano and rosemary are excellent additions to your cooking, and have their own individual health benefits for your body. Thyme is known for its antiseptic and digestive properties, while oregano could help with digestion and with fighting against some bacteria and viruses. Rosemary is popular, too, used in essential oils, to improve memory and mental focus.
4. Take a pause in a tranquil spot
You could be amazed at the difference even just 10 minutes in a secluded spot in your garden can make to your overall health.
You can create your own version of a Zen garden by adding elements like a water feature, a bird feeder, some wind chimes, and even a comfortable bench with some softer elements like cushions and throws.
Get into a daily habit of spending time in this spot, closing your eyes and connecting with the elements around you, to enjoy your local ecosystem, and take in the different senses of nature around you.
