Why your garden is the key to a more joyful life
4 minute read
Yes really, that overgrown mess outside the back door holds the key to you starting each day jumping out of bed with a big old smile on your face.
The benefits of gardening and food growing for health and wellbeing are well documented, but here I dive into why your garden can have such an impact on your happiness.
Here’s 5 reasons your garden is your gateway to living a more joy-filled life.
YOU CAN’T HELP BUT SMILE WHEN YOU SEE BRIGHTLY COLOURED FLOWERS
I defy anyone to say their heart doesn't lift a little when they see a border full of brightly coloured flowers. And if you can cut some and bring them indoors with you they make the 28 zillion zoom calls you have to do that day so much more bearable. By adding in some scented sweetpeas and some oh so soft lamb's ears (yes there’s a plant called lamb’s ears) then you can engage your senses even more fully in that 5 second gap between calls and feel the relaxation and joy flood through your body.
CONNECTION WITH THE WORLD AROUND YOU
Whether that’s the plethora of insects and wildlife humming in your summer borders, the kids running wild through the sprinkler and picking you bunches of flowers on a sweltering summer’s day, a cold G&T with your partner over a game of cards or the group of girlfriends you’ve had over for wine under cosy blankets and catch ups round the fire pit on a misty September evening.
Being in your garden reminds you that there’s a big old world out there and this can help put some things into perspective. It's easy to dwell on the things that are going wrong in your life, but some time outdoors in your soothing green space encourages you to stop, reassess and focus on what's in front of you.
ALLOWS YOU TO STOP AND TAKE TIME FOR YOU
Rather than being another thing you’ve got to do, creating a garden you love can be a true source of joy. It’s unlikely you’ll suddenly be able to fit hours in your busy life to create your green haven but the good news is you don’t have to. Just five minutes a day can have a huge impact on your wellbeing and mood and reduce your stress and anxiety levels.
As busy women we often feel guilty taking time for ourselves (thanks patriarchal society!) Tending to your garden can ease that guilt as you feel like you are being productive in your rest time, especially if you are growing fruit and veg for the family to eat.
Start with just 5 minutes and you’ll find the time you spend out there weeding, pruning, planting and harvesting slowly increasing along with your joy.
QUIETENS YOUR BUSY MIND
Is your brain constantly running with all the things you have on your mental to-do list? Gardening is a form of active-rest which means that your brain stays just active enough to complete the gardening activity (e.g. seed sowing) but not so active that your brain gets stressed. Many of the activities are repetitive so once your mind and body have got the hang of it, you can repeat it over and over again very easily allowing your mind to get into the flow state enabling you to:
Achieve a sense of clarity
Allow stress, worry and self-doubt to fade into the background
Feel good in the moment
Take that lasting sense of happiness and fulfilment into the rest of your day and even the rest of your week.
HELPS YOU TO FEEL PROUD AND CELEBRATE YOURSELF
There is not a better feeling in this world than when you see the first green shoot poking up out of the soil. The overwhelming sense of pride and joy that you have created life (and especially one that doesn’t answer back or keep you up at night).
In our society women especially are not celebrated enough. When we achieve something we tend to just have more responsibility piled on us and very rarely do we have the energy to stand up and say ‘Hang on a minute I’m bloody proud of myself and I want to celebrate me’. Society has told us that's not a ladylike thing to do, to talk about how great we are. But quite honestly fuck that!
By creating a space that you can retreat to when times get hard, that provides you and your friends bunches of flowers to brighten their day and feeds your family. I'd say that deserves a huge celebration with a large side helping of pride.