Planting, weeding, watering, pruning, and harvesting have a secret added benefit – boosting your mood and mental health.Technically, gardening involves growing and cultivating plants, including vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs within a designated periphery. Since the activity combines art and science, it has been a favourite hobby of people for ages. But, did you know that gardening has been proven to be therapeutic as well? Here’s how you can make gardening your weekly therapeutic practice.
5 Steps To Make Gardening Your Weekly, Therapeutic Activity
As per a 2024 study titled “The impact of gardening on well-being, mental health, and quality of life: an umbrella review and meta-analysis,” horticultural therapy has a positive impact on overall well-being and general health. The fact that gardening is a no-screen-time hobby and helps amp up the aesthetics of one's household and the surrounding landscape makes it an even better contributor.
Make gardening your weekly therapeutic practice in just 5 steps:
1) Time It Properly
To make it a weekly therapeutic engagement, you need to indulge in gardening on a regular basis. It's like your exercise regime, where you have to set aside some minutes and surrender to the wondrous gems of nature. Set aside at least 30 minutes a few times a week and be consistent.
2) Be Mindful
Barely glancing at those leaves or flowers won't do you any good. You have to treat gardening as meditation and pay close attention to the texture, colours, fragrances, and feel of the garden. Immerse yourself in them. Couple this mindful engagement with deep breathing, and you have an excellent relaxation technique.
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3) Repetitive Tasks
Gardening involves numerous steps that should be done on a loop. Weeding, cutting out dry leaves, shaping the flowers, watering, and preparing the soil, among many others, may make the activity a strenuous task. However, these very repetitive tasks make gardening meditative and pacifying. Initially, it may feel boring, but eventually, it will pull you in with its peaceful quotient.
4) Add Your Touch
Make the garden your space, your way. To have a sense of belongingness with your yard, sit down and think about how you want it to be designed. Keep your goals, interests, and needs in mind before considering whether you want a flower garden, fruit garden, vegetable garden, a blend of them, or simply a therapeutic garden.
5) Celebrate Your Wins
If you are short of space, try to go for a kitchen garden on the balcony. You can start with something basic like cherry tomatoes or say seeds of saunf, jeera, methi, and the like. All of these grow quickly and require the bare minimum maintenance. When you see the first leaf and bloom, your heart will get instant gratification and gratitude. Celebrate that moment and gardening will turn into your shrink in no time.
Studies have shown that gardening has an immense contribution to improving your cardiovascular health. All the time you spend in nature and the intense physical activity reduce your stress like no medicine. So, why wait for that opportune time? Make gardening your go-to therapist right now!
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