According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, depression affects 1 in 8 Canadians at some point. Similarly, a wide variety of mental health conditions will affect people and can look quite different from person to person. Triggers may include life events such as a job loss, the end of a relationship, and other life stressors like a deadline, moving to a new city, having a baby, etc.
Feeling worthless, helpless, and unhappy is natural if you face emotionally draining life circumstances. You must, however, find a silver lining in every situation to break through the surface.
Some activities that help minimize the effects of an emotional crisis include signing up for virtual cooking classes in Canada or any courses to get those creative juices flowing. Gardening is among our recommended list of hassle-free activities beneficial to physical and emotional well-being.
There may be various reasons why you want to get into gardening. You might have gotten the idea from seeing people who make funeral flower arrangements in Toronto. Or perhaps you had the idea after watching a show about plants and growing your herbs at home. This activity may sound exhausting, but it’s relatively simple and enjoyable.
How Connecting with Nature Impacts Your Mental Health
Nature has always been a therapeutic element to restore a person’s well-being, cognitively and emotionally. Even something as simple as repairing your lawn sprinklers in Toronto will improve your attention.
In fact, research reveals that connecting with nature impacts mental health positively, especially when life obligations become overwhelming to bear. For example, researchers found that children with ADHD become focused following walks in parks compared with walks in urban settings.
Getting into the gardening hobby will provide several benefits, from reduced mental fatigue to an overall feeling of better physical health.
Why Gardening Is a “Psychological Lifeline”
The following are a few reasons gardening is the psychological lifeline you need during a life crisis:
#1: It can help you build self-esteem.
Even if you think you were not born with a green thumb, that doesn’t mean you can’t till, plant, nurture, and harvest. With gardening, you might see a slightly different person who can grow things and is more in tune with nature.
This can give you a sense of accomplishment. As a result, you’ll be more confident and start believing you can do anything you set your mind to accomplish.
#2: It reduces stress.
Another reason gardening is the activity you need is that it helps reduce stress levels. With this activity, you can focus on something and put your mind to work to accomplish your goal of growing your herbs and flowers. This is especially helpful during this time of uncertainty and much talk about illnesses and deaths. Imagine looking at those plants growing and thriving due to your hard work!
#3: It’s another form of physical therapy.
Gardening can also reduce body fat, improve bone density, and lower heart disease risk. Exercise routines for building muscle can be as simple as wielding a shovel, wheeling a full garden cart, or wrestling a five-gallon bucket at a nursery.
Research has also shown that gardening can offset symptoms of cancer and dementia, modulate blood sugar levels in diabetics, and decrease joint and knee pain.
#4: It can boost your vitamin D levels.
Physical exercise while under the sun helps decrease cortisol, the stress hormone, and increase endorphins, making you feel more relaxed.
Exposure to sunlight can boost your vitamin D levels and increase calcium levels. Having adequate amounts of vitamin D is especially helpful when you’re old.
#5: It can be a shared activity, allowing you to interact with others.
Gardening allows you to have a shared activity with your community, which can lift your mood and provide relief from stress. Sharing this activity with others is also a great way to let others reap its mental and physical benefits.
For example, when you share gardening with your kids or younger siblings, they can have health benefits such as reduced allergies to autoimmune diseases. When you share it with others who have the same hobby, you can have fun talking about your shared love for plants.
Gardening also creates an opportunity to meet new people, increase community pride, reduce social isolation, and serve as a space for positive interaction.
#6: It improves nutrition.
Lastly, gardening at home allows you to grow herbs, fruits, and vegetables. This is a healthy and cost-effective way of putting nutritious meals on the table from fresh produce. If your dish lacks an herb, you can pick it up from your garden instead of visiting the grocery store multiple times.
It has also been shown that people with diets rich in whole foods like fruits and vegetables are less likely to suffer from depression.
Now that you know how gardening at home or in the community can improve your physical and mental health, pick up that shovel or look at a few gardening tips from your book and get started with this healthy hobby.
It is better to take care of your plants when stressed or tired than to wallow in self-pity and attempt to control uncontrollable circumstances. Connect with nature to minimize the effects of anxiety and other mental health conditions. You can start with gardening.
