The sense experience of gardening “allows people to connect to this primary state,” says James Jiler, Founder & CEO of Urban GreenWorks, a non-profit organisation from Miami that creates low income garden and park programmes. “Many people (understand) this experience. You can’t put it into words, but you know what is happening.” Working in the garden has different, less spiritual benefits. In addition to being a source of healthy and fresh food, gardening can relieve stress, keep you limber and even improve your mood.
Here are just a couple of ways that gardening can benefit you and your family and your physical and mental health.
Stress Buster
Stress can cause irritability, headaches, stomach aches, heart attacks and deteriorate body conditions.
A recent study in the Netherlands shows that gardening can even better combat stress than others. Two groups of people were instructed to read indoors or garden for 30 minutes after completing a stressful task. The group that gardened then reported that they were in better mood than the reading group, and also had lower stress hormone cortisol levels.
Excersice and Mental Health
Gardening without effort can even help to improve symptoms of depression. In a study carried out in Norway, people with depression, persistent low mood or “bipolar II disorder” were diagnosed with a six-hour week of flora and vegetable cultivation. Half of the participants experienced a measurable improvement in their depression symptoms after three months. Moreover, three months after the end of the gardening programme, their mood continued to improve. Gardening takes you out in sunshine and fresh air—and it moves your blood. There are many different movements in gardening, so you can get some advantages from exercise. However, digging, planting, weaving and recurring tasks requiring strength or stretching are excellent forms of exercise with little impact, especially for people with stronger exercises, such as older people who are handicapped or suffer from chronic pain.
The food that you grow is the freshest food that you can eat. People who grow food eat healthily. Studies of post-school gardening programmes suggest that children who garden more likely consume fruits and vegetables and try new foods.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs) state that moderate intensity levels of activity over 2.5 hrs each week can reduce the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis. The CDC takes gardening into consideration a moderate intensity activity and can help you achieve this goal of 2.5 hours each week. Furthermore, those who choose to practise gardening as a moderate intensity exercise are 40-50 minutes higher on average than those who choose walking or biking. By walking outdoors to several community gardens around Michigan, you not only help keep your community vibrant, but you become healthier.
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