The benefits of gardening will justify by the fact that it is one of the emerging hobbies worldwide, especially during the covid 19 lockdown duration.
In covid 19 lockdown, we all are struck in our homes, with no job, no outdoor activity, and little food supply, merely surviving in that period.
Living in chaos and depression shifts people toward gardening.
Gardening offers mental peace, physical health, budget-friendly nutritious food items, and a healthy time pass.
All these aspects are enough to make it popular.
Plucking the weeds, watering the plants and enjoying the sunrise will leave an everlasting impression on you, and you will feel motivated to get through the challenges of the day.
Plants Are The Best Companion
After a stressful day, you can be noisy with your plants, talk about all the problems with them and feel relaxed after that.
No one will shut you up; instead, the plants will respond through their fragrance and tells you that you have gone through a lot and done an excellent job.
Leaving a stressful person in the garden, a cheerful person will come out of it after a few hours.
Five Benefits Of Gardening
I have discussed that you should opt for gardening as a hobby, but here are seven reasons to prove my claim right.
- A Tool To Boost Your Physical Health
Have you ever thought about why farmers are more substantial and have better stamina than us?
There is no gym in the rural areas how they manage it.
The simple answer is their whole work routine, The strenuous task they perform from dawn to dusk to grow fruits and vegetables.
But in urban areas, we stick to our office chairs from 9 to 5 and barely find time to go for a walk or exercise to improve our health.
Gardening can solve this problem because, in it, we use our whole strength to provide the best condition to our plants. So, it is a:
- An Excellent Alternative For Gym
Do you know that gardening effectively reduces age-related weight gain and obesity by birth, so can we consider it a source of physical activity?
Yes, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also states that doing activities like raking and cutting grass is an immediate level of exercise.
On the other hand, digging, shoveling and chipping woods are considered strenuous exercises.
Moreover, gardening is not time bound; we have to reschedule our routine to go to the gym or perform other activities.
You can perform gardening at any time of the day when you are free, or it costs you less and has more significant benefits than going to the gym.
- A Source Of Vitamin D
Most of our daily activities revolve around our home and work area, meaning we stay inside most of the time.
We forget that sun rays are necessary for our body; they are the source of vitamin d for our body.
Vitamin D strengthens our muscles, bones and teeth.
A mere 30 minutes of exposure to sunlight leads to the production of 800 to 5000 IU(international unit) of vitamin d in our body.
Moreover, studies have shown that being out in the sun will help you to prevent certain diseases like:
- breast cancer
- colorectal cancer
- bladder cancer
- prostate cancer
- non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- multiple sclerosis
Caution: overexposure is dangerous to your skin because it will lead to skin cancer.
- It Helps To Get Sound Sleep
It is a blessing for older people who remain irritable the whole day because they do not get enough sleep at night.
Gardening allows you to use your muscle strength. In return, it will provide you with a sound sleep of 7 hours.
A dual effect is seen; physical health benefits and improves sleep quality and quantity.
- Get Yourself Out Of Depression Through Gardening
Mental health is essential if we want to get through all life’s challenges because, in the end, we achieve success by coordinating our brains and mind.
Gardening has numerous benefits for our body, but it does not leave our brain part alone.
One of the essential benefits of gardening is its impact on our mental health. Let’s discuss them one by one:
- Aid In The Treatment Of Dementia
As we age, our brain activity reduces, leading to dementia and many other problems. Doctors suggest exercise to boost our cognitive-motor functioning.
But gardening can increase brain memory-related nerves; hence, many experiments have proven its effectiveness in treating dementia.
In Korea, a 20-minute gardening activity increases the production of brain nerve growth factors in dementia patients.
That is why horticulture therapy (gardening to treat mental health) is becoming common nowadays.
- Calm Your Mind After A Stressful Day
After a stressful day, anxiety and depression follow us and leave us in a miserable state.
We want to lift our mood but do not know the way; our mins refuse to do anything.
At that time, the best activity to perform is gardening because some bacteria in the soil release enhance the release of serotonin, a stress reiver.
The fragrance of flower and their intricate colour and design captivates us.
It helps us to forget all the negative things and fill our minds with positive energy.
Nature’s company never disappoints us because it always provides a sense of peacefulness and calmness for the human brain.
- Prove Effective In Cutting Through Addiction
Gardening is an important activity in rehabilitating centers.
It provides excellent help to those people who are trying there to break their addiction.
It strengthens their mind and increases their willpower to remain consistent in their decision; to stop alcohol or drug addiction.
- It Teaches A Lifelong Lesson
Apart from all these health benefits, many hidden lessons are present in gardening. Let’s have a look at these exceptional lessons:
- You Cannot Control The Outcome Of The Task
It is a natural attitude to imagine a great result from the task in which you work hard with great dedication but gardening teaches us that it is not necessary to get what we expect.
In gardening, we do everything precisely, like levelling the soil, cutting the weeds, and regularly watering the plants. Still, our crops are damaged due to some diseases, climate change, excessive use of fertilizers etc.
It tells us that we should develop the courage to face every type of consequence and, instead of disappointing by bad results, work again to achieve the desired result.
Failure is not the end but the start of a new journey. Check out this article to know the importance of failure in life. What Can Failure Teach Us?
- Continuity Is The Key To Success.
Gardening is a slow process.
You harvest at a specific time of year, then a tiny seed converts in to shoot, and plants emerge from it. In the end, we get our desired fruits, vegetables or flowers.
It is not a day since I put a seed in the soil yesterday, and I expect to eat the fruit from those plants today. No
Similarly, in life, we achieve success after a long period of struggle and hard work. Trust me; the sensation lasts longer.
Any achievement through a shortcut will lose its charm in a shorter time; moreover, shortcuts are always risky.
- Play Your Role In The Conservation Of The Environment
When it comes to destroying the environment, we are number one. Only few people are playing their role in environmental conservation.
Gardening is a gift to our environment because we are increasing greenery in the ecosystem.
Plants absorb carbon dioxide and harmful pollutants and provide us with oxygen, necessary for survival.
The world is facing extreme climate changes nowadays; the primary cause is deforestation. Gardening is a small step to prevent our planet from all these disastrous effects.
When deforestation destroys the community residing on trees, our garden provides them with habitat to make a new community again.
Furthermore, along with the ecosystem, we are giving ourselves benefits through the garden.
Gardening helps to reduce the temperature of our house in summer and makes our home warmer in winter.
- A Source Of Interaction
Parents struggle to find an activity where they can participate with their kids.
Gardening is an excellent way to have a family interaction in the evening. It allows you to spend quality time with your kids and family.
You can teach numerous things to your kids through gardening, as children love to play in the soil.
They will help you in gardening and it prevent them from becoming a book addict or mobile addict.
To reduce your child’s mobile phone addiction, read this article: 7 Certified Ways To Cut Off Mobile Phone Addiction.
In addition, there is a term called community garden, where people of a specific area play their role in caring for a fixed garden.
- It provides you with an excellent opportunity to socialize with your neighbours.
- In the community garden, you will learn how to incorporate everyone’s strengths in an effective way and division of labour.
Conclusion
Gardening is an artwork that reflects your skill through your garden.
Always be mindful of how you will spend your leisure time, as your choice determines whether it is beneficial or harmful.
Moreover gardening also offers access to natural homemade vegetables and fruits instead of artificial ones available in the market.
