I readthisinteresting article this week, it's all about the benefits of Gardening as a way to maintain sound Mental Health. It's not the first time I've read about this, and to be honest it stand to reason as far as I'm concerned. Still, it's always interesting to see fresh opinions on the subject, and let's face it, any publicity for such a beneficial and positive subject can only be a good thing.
In my own personal experience I can tell you that I've experienced first hand the medicinal effect that getting green fingered can have on the mind. Certainly as a younger man, with the stresses of a family to feed and a mortgage to pay, getting out in the garden at the weekend, even if it was just for a little while, certainly helped keep me sane.
These days of course, I'm out there whenever I want, completely on my own terms. Truth be told there aren't the great stresses in my life that their once were, so you would think that the contrast of being out in the garden would be less noticeable now. Well, the interesting thing is that I still get the same buzz now as I ever did. Whilst this is in part probably because it's my passion and I love doing it, I think it reaches more deeply than that.
To me it's the distinct combination of factors unique to gardening that all contributes to the euphoria, and ultimately Mental wellbeing that it provides. Think about it, you're out in the fresh (hopefully clean) air, you're on your feet and moving around a lot which in itself proides a whole host of incidental positive hormonal effects, you're being productive which in itself always provides a great feeling a satisfaction and pay off, and of course you're at one with nature, which I'm sure is hard wired into us to be our natural habitat and where we feel most alive.
