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Having a garden that you take pride in and enjoy inhabiting is life enriching. Whether you’re taking an active role in the maintenance of your garden or just sitting back admiring the results, our outdoor spaces have numerous well documented health benefits. Here are just a few of them.
Most of us know that getting outdoors when we’re feeling stressed can have a positive effect in regulating our emotions. When we are in a stressed state our body releases the hormone cortisol which causes a ‘fight or fight’ reaction. Of course, this is vital when we’re in danger, but in day to day life it means increased blood pressure and heart rate, digestive issues, headaches, irritability and more.
There are many natural ways to reduce your cortisol levels and studies show that gardening is one of the very best. Simply taking your cup of tea out to the garden and enjoying the sights, sounds and smells, the sun on your face, the fresh air will help calm your mind. But for true stress busting, get your hands a little dirty.
Just half an hour spent in simple tasks like weeding, deadheading or pruning can see those cortisol levels come right down. What’s more, gardening is a mood enhancer with studies showing that it can increase our serotonin levels, our natural antidepressant.
Gardening is a great way to get in some extra physical activity. From light exercise to more vigorous, your garden can provide it all. Carrying bags of mulch and pots, pushing the mower, stretching across beds to remove weeds – all these activities collectively engage a range of muscles throughout your body, making gardening one of the best and easiest forms of exercise for full body benefit.
Active gardening is categorised as a moderate activity, about the same as golfing without a cart. Any increase in regular physical activity comes with a raft of benefits from increased endurance, strength and flexibility to improved motor skills and heart health. It can also help keep weight within a healthy range.
Gardening is even healthy for your brain function, especially important as we get older. Recent scientific studies exhibited significantly increased levels of brain nerve growth in participants engaging in 20 minutes of gardening a day. This has positive impacts on cognitive function and particularly memory. Part of this is thought to come from the sense of connection that gardening can bring to us, very similar to the cognitive and mood benefits a pet brings.
Just like plants, humans need sunlight to get vitamin D which is used in almost every part of our body, impacting everything from metabolism to our immune system. It’s hard to overstate how important vitamin D is with positive effects on type 2 diabetes, heart disease, bone health, depression and gut health.
And while you’re there, breathe in that serenity. Every cell in your body relies on a constant supply of oxygen and the best place to get it is outdoors. Oxygen is a mood and health booster, and fresh air encourages deep, diaphragmatic breathing which increases oxygen levels and helps expel airborne toxins.
Having a beautiful outdoor space makes it so much easier to get a dose of D and oxygen. Whether your time is spent actively gardening or just enjoying the space, you’ll be reaping a multitude of benefits.
