[AD] How Gardening Can Help Your Mental Health

Regular readers of my blog will know that I have had a long standing issue with my mental health. In particular I’ve suffered from some severe bouts of depression throughout my life. It has always been difficult to find ways to lift my mood and simply just be able to cope with life on a daily basis.

Over the years I have tried many hobbies to try and relax and just take the stress out of daily life. These hobbies are cycling, long walks in the countryside and crafting.

Over the years the most successful way that I’ve found to help my mental health is right there in front of me, and all I have to do is walk outside and into my garden. Yes! Gardening is a fantastic way to help with all the stresses of life and keep your mental wellbeing in check. Here are a few reasons why it’s so good for your mental health:

Getting Outdoors

When you get stuck indoors your mood can very quickly start to drop. This in turn will lead to a bout of depression. Getting outdoors on a warm day and pottering in the garden in itself will lift your mood and a dose of vitamin D will always make you feel better.

Creating a Garden Heaven

Some of the major symptoms of depression are a lack of confidence and very low self esteem. So creating a garden haven that you have personally created can have a very positive effect on your mental health. Your confidence will grow as you look and see what you have created. It will give you a great sense of achievement which will give your self esteem a massive boost.

Finding the right accessories for your garden

There are of course many places that you can find plants, shrubs and accessories for your garden. For example a new shed or greenhouse or you could be looking for a water feature to set off a particular area in your garden and there is nothing more relaxing than running water in a garden. Nowadays with the internet you can go online and take your time to pick out exactly what you want with websites such as Garden Site. GardenSite have a fantastic range of sheds, greenhouses and water features.

Barbecue Area

During the summer there is nothing better than lighting up the bbq for a family or friends gathering so in your garden I would highly recommend a bbq area. Being with family and friends is guaranteed to lift your mood and make you feel better inside and outside.

The garden is a peaceful way to spend your day planting and tending to your plants and shrubs,. This can help to de-stress, which in my case is perfect because I suffer from high blood pressure and if I have a lot of stress my blood pressure will instantly become higher. Being in the garden can help me to de-stress which in turn will keep my blood pressure at the right level.

In a recent Swedish study they found that the more people who used their gardens meant that there are fewer incidents of stress they suffered.

The benefits of using your garden in relation to your mental health are limitless. It will help your mood, self confidence and of course your self esteem. In today’s very fast, stressful world we live in, I think that is worth its weight in gold.

Do you feel less stressed or anxious when you are gardening? I would love hear in the comments below.

This is a paid collaborative post.