How Gardening Improves Health

There’s something about gardening that makes you feel happy, rejuvenated and in control. There’s nothing better than going outside on a hot day and picking your own fruits and veggies to snack on that you grew yourself! The feeling of satisfaction that doing that gives you is something you cannot get many other places. So, we know that gardening makes us feel good, but did you know that gardening is actually, scientifically, good for your health? The science behind how gardening affects your health is actually quite beautiful and it gives you just another reason to start digging and planting this coming spring.

Gardening Improves Health

How gardens affects your health positively

As technology has grown…and grown (and grown some more!) this past decade, we as humans have lost touch with the outdoors and have become disconnected with the Earth. Being able to, quite literally, get your hands dirty and create something out of nothing is a beautiful thing. It’s that creation of something that wasn’t there before, that feeling of doing your part to keep the world a beautiful, green place, that impacts your health positively. Heath.com states that this positive feeling comes from a sense of re-connecting to one’s primal state. It’s a return to simplicity, one that our body and mind welcomes after a long week sitting in a desk.

Along with rejuvenating our mental state, gardening also helps reduce stress. Gardening releases endorphins, which reduces the amount of cortisol (the stress hormone) that pumps through our body. With this stress-reduction comes a lower blood pressure. Any type of moderate physical activity can help to reduce your blood pressure, so if you love gardening, why not make that your activity? Gardening also has the ability to work as a form of exercise, says Good Housekeeping. You can burn up to 330 calories per hour of gardening! That’s like going on an hour run! So, long story short, if you’ve had a bad day, pick up a spade! Finally, gardening has the ability to brighten your mood, lift your spirits and all-around make you a happier person. Think of the last time you got a flower: did a smile not creep up upon your face just by smelling them? So, long story short, if you’ve had a bad day, pick up a spade!

 Sources:

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/womens-health/health-benefits-gardening

http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20507878,00.html

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