Gardening for Your Mental Health

While gardening may not be for everyone, its positive effect on a person’s mental and physical health could convince just about anyone to take up the practice. Your garden is your own space to clear your mind, reduce stress, and plant your focus on a larger purpose such as cultivating the growth of another living thing. Even the small change of having a plant on your desk can help you feel energized and even contribute to clear thinking. Individuals who suffer from anxiety and depression can find significant benefits just from spending time gardening. In this article, we explore the top five benefits of implementing gardening into your mental health practice. 

Practice acceptance
A lot of anxiety centers around the lack of control in our surroundings. The more we are able to accept that life is unpredictable and there is nothing we can do about it, the more free our minds can be. Acceptance in nature doesn’t mean that you are giving up, it means that we try our best for what we can control and let go of the rest. 

Perfection does not exist
Attempting to achieve perfection can lead to a negative mentality, grounded in frustration, missed deadlines, strained relationships, and missed opportunities. Some individuals may question why they even bother with a specific task if there is no plausible road toward perfection. Given the lack of control we have over our lives and our surroundings, gardening is the perfect place to practice adaptability. Witha garden, many unknown factors may arise that could hinder the survival of your plants. How you choose to react and adapt will determine your garden’s overall success. 

Transition into a growth mindset
Developing a growth mindset means that you are willing to learn and educate yourself through life as opposed to staying stagnant. Similar to your plants, your brain needs nourishment, positivity, and love to fully bloom. 

Connect with your world 
Having a garden means having an intimate relationship with the earth and the plants you are cultivating. Individuals have been known to have strong reactions to eating food they had just harvested or even watching the first leaves sprout from the soil. In a way, you become a parent to new life, and you begin to harvest a special connection with it. 

Reduce Stress
It may not come as a surprise that spending time in your garden can relieve your body and mind of pent-up stress. From feeling the sun on your skin to watching new life sprout around you, happiness will soon follow. It is important to take time away from the little things in life that create stress and turn to another activity that will harness your attention and allow you to experience a new reality.