Looking for a hobby that will fulfill you with good feelings while allowing you to expend some of your energy? Want to get more active but the thought of traditional exercises in a gym setting doesn’t fit what you are looking for? Lacking a connection with nature and in turn, with yourself? Perhaps you are wanting to experience more outdoor activities and soak up some natural Vitamin D without having to purchase a pill at your local drugstore?
Let’s Dive In
If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, even if they haven’t really crossed your mind until now; you are in the need of starting a gardening hobby at home. Gardening is the type of hobby that can be done regardless of where you live. Live in an apartment complex? Then look into windowsill box gardening. Live in a townhouse? Ask your landlord if you are allowed to use a portion of the yard for a garden plot or look into vertical gardening using pallets and trellises. Even window gardening would work. Live in your own home? Then designate a portion of your backyard for your gardens or use colorful pots that showcase your personality to grow your favorite seasonal flowers.
Physical Advantages
Gardening is one of the most physically challenging hobbies you can have that isn’t a sport or a designated exercise. It truly works all the parts of the body from the head to the toes and you don’t even recognize it as working out! But you actually are when you are gardening, as you are bending, squatting, reaching, and stretching in all sorts of positions!
Need to plant some new seeds? Then you are using your knees, arms, back and shoulders to dig through the soil and plant. Need to complete some garden maintenance such as weeding and replacing old compost? Then get ready to engage that core, squat those thighs and feel the burn. You will have to remove the weeds from the garden beds (to ensure that no seeds get mixed into the soil) and you will have to bring new compost to the beds, spread it and use your muscles to shovel it into place. To help with this you might want to invest in a sturdy wheelbarrow that will work the arms as you lift it into wheeling position and it works the legs to hold it steady while in motion. Get online check out a nifty product that will meet all your needs – the Worx Wheelbarrow with a complete review at BackyardBoss!
Mental Advantages
Gardening has not only ample physical advantages but also some pretty intense mental advantages as well. You will be required to use your mind to determine where the garden will go, what you will plant, how it will be laid out and more.
Making these decisions and seeing them through will boost self-confidence in your decision-making abilities and when you see the first sprout of green through the soil? Be prepared to feel a level of accomplishment you didn’t know existed as you witness your hard work producing a reward.
Gardening is also a wonderful tool for anxiety as it soothes the mind by focusing on the task at hand. Hearing the sounds of nature, from the birds chirping to the wind rustling through the leaves on a tree can have a soothing effect on an anxious mind. Smelling the fresh dirt under your hands while feeling the delicate life of your plants will give you a protective nature as you know that these plants are wholly dependent on you for survival; and when they do survive and shoot up to be strong, sturdy plants – you are proud and in awe of your own skills.
Conclusion
Gardening is the type of hobby that benefits you, literally, all over and inside and out. Gardening encourages you to become more physically active and get outdoors. It’s the type of physical workout that doesn’t really feel like a workout at all (until later that night or the next morning) because you are doing something that you enjoy and love. These good feelings, along with the adrenaline and hormones the physical activity creates, will ease your mental state and encourage a stronger mental health foundation. Whenever you need help with your garden projects, these guys can surely help you. Check them here.
There is no reason not to garden and you can garden more than one plant type! Look into trees, both normal and dwarf size, to appease your green thumb. There is shrubbery, flowers, plants, wild fruit, fruit trees and vines and also vegetables. Get creative and grow a garden that makes people stop in awe and say “wow, look at that!” or grow a garden that will provide you and your family with fresh produce that has been cultivated with love and not chemicals. Use homemade compost, homemade mulch and get creative with your water supply to help the environment at the same time! The sky is truly the limit when it comes to gardening for fun and for your health!
