Stress can be rough on both physical and mental health. Unfortunately, stress is often a part of adult life no matter how much we try to avoid it, making good stress management an important lifestyle tool for overall wellness. Gardening can help; when done with mental health and stress reduction at least partially in mind a garden can be a wonderful, health hobby. We’re not medical professionals or mental health experts by any means, but we would like to offer some suggestions as to ways you might incorporate gardening into your mental health practice.
Please note that while gardening is a wonderful thing, it’s not a substitute for care from a qualified professional. If you’re dealing with a serious mental health issue, please contact a therapist or physician. If you’re currently in crisis, please contact your local emergency services or a mental health hotline.
Make Your Garden a Happy Place
First and foremost: don’t let your garden become a source of stress! Gardening should be a fun activity and hobby for most of us, and if that applies to you than take steps to keep your garden stress free. If that means having a smaller garden, or getting some help with your garden, do it! Your garden is yours and you get to manage it as is best for you. Let your garden be a relaxing place if at all possible; you deserve it and frankly so do your plants!
Gardening and Stress
Moving forward from there, let’s talk about how gardening can help with stress management. Gardening is a great way to take your mind off other concerns. Pulling weeds, pruning, inspecting plants, and just spending time around your garden or outdoors may all help you leave the mundane worries and concerns of the world behind and focus on the task in front of you. For those of you who are so inclined, garden work can become a form of mindfulness meditation. You can give this a try at your convenience: just try focusing on the task and hand and letting the rest of the world do its thing for a while.
There’s a very strong and well-established body of research correlating stress reduction with both time outdoors and exercise. Gardening can offer both; if you’re lucky enough to have an outdoor garden, take the time to enjoy some fresh air, sunshine, and time under the sky. Even an indoor garden offers some light physical activity and an excuse to get up, move around, and loosen up a bit. If you have a landscaping project you may just get plenty of time outside combined with rigorous physical activity—just don’t overdo it!
No matter how big or small your garden is, whether it’s indoor or outdoor, you can make your garden a place to relax by incorporating other activities into your garden space. What this means is up to you—do some yoga, read a book, drink your coffee, meditate, or just sit and enjoy looking at your plants. Making your garden part of your life helps both your mental health and your plants, so give yourself some time to enjoy the space you’ve created.
Gardzen is all about community, and we’re delighted to report that some recent research indicates that gardening with other people can help our mental health as well. While the research we’ve read focused on community gardens, you could also work with friends and neighbors, get involved with a local garden club, or involve your family with your garden depending on what works best for you. In a digital world we often miss out on time with other people, and gardening with other folks can help address that need!
Gardening is for Everyone
While gardening isn’t the solution for every issue, it can help with some of them and that alone makes it a worthwhile hobby and a wonderful part of our lives. We hope this blog helps you find ways to incorporate gardening into your life as a way of reducing stress and improving your well-being. We also hope that you’re doing well out there—Gardzen is all about community and we’re grateful to have each and every one of you with us!
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