Gardening and Green Activities: a Definite Solution for Your Anxiety Attacks!

If you are not fond of nature and nurturing plants, you may be shaking your head at the idea of gardening. In fact, you might be thinking that taking care of plants and fostering a thriving green garden might successfully add to your stress and give you panic attacks. The hocus pocus of soil combinations, the watering schedules, and all the care guidelines of pruning and trimming plants for a better growth, might all seem out of your league.

However, studies suggest something else entirely. Gardening can be therapeutic. Yes, you might get a fresh supply of herbs at your hand, but you will also receive a range of other mental health benefits, some of which are mentioned below:

1. It will diminish your anxiety.
2. It will pull you out of depression.
3. A thriving garden gives you a feeling of accomplishment.
4. It reduces cortisol, the stress-producing hormone.
5. Interaction with soil, and lounging around under sunlight are proven stimulators of happiness because of serotonin production.

Deposit Photos | If you’ve been stressed and anxious during the pandemic, give gardening a try

If these benefits do not inspire you to take on gardening, you might get wooed by this last big advantage of the activity. Gardening helps you to become mindful of the present and stops you from being incessantly tormented by the thoughts of the future. This is quite essential now when the future has become so vague in the wake of the coronavirus.

Thus, the question now is, how can you learn the art of gardening and from where should you begin?

Fret not, we are here with an easy guide for you to become a novice gardener.

1. Start with low-maintenance plants

If you are a first-time gardener, you should start with plants bought straight from the nursery and the ones that require minimum care. There is nothing more discouraging than a shriveled plant. You could also choose to start with rubber plants, succulents like aloe vera, and lucky bamboo. These plants can survive despite your negligence when you strive to develop an interest in gardening.

Deposit Photos | Look into bamboo for your new garden- they can grow super quickly

2. Be mindful of your space

Make informed choices when choosing the plants to house in your terrace garden or the office desk. Ask plenty of questions to learn the proper care routine for each plant. Also, ask the average height your plant is supposed to reach and space it will cover horizontally.

There are some plants like the mint that spread laterally across all the land it gets. Thus, assess your space and the nature of the plant before making the purchase. If you are looking for a plant to adorn your working space, you may want to choose one that has a small average height and can thrive in a pot.

Deposit Photos | Indoor plants can really lift the vibe of any room

The Final Word

The last and most precious advice is to choose the plants that make you happy. If you are not attracted by green plants, you may love to adopt a few flowering plants or trees with scones to make your Christmas extra special. Just take the first step towards gardening and you will soon find yourself enthralled. Let the first leaf sprout and the first flower to bloom and watch your depression and anxiety disappear little by little.