One of the many and varied benefits of gardening is just how good it is for your mental health, as well as your physical wellbeing.
No doubt if you’ve been gardening for a while, you’ve already started to feel calmer, more refreshed and more resilient as a result… but there’s a way you can up the ante even more and give your mental health an even bigger boost – and that’s by practising mindful gardening!
Mindfulness is the art of anchoring yourself in the present moment (usually by doing some breathing exercises) without distraction of thought and the garden is a wonderful place in which to practise it.
Of course, you’ll never be able to stop your thoughts from intruding from time to time but the key here is to acknowledge them but never dwell on them, letting them come in and out of your mind, each time returning your attention and full focus to the task at hand.
The garden represents a great opportunity for getting to grips with mindfulness techniques, because you can easily engage all five of your senses in this space, helping you to become fully connected to the present moment.
To get started, spend a few minutes before you start your gardening tasks to activate your senses, spending a few minutes breathing deeply and evenly, all the while tuning into the world around you through hearing, touch, smell, sight and taste.
This could be done by running your hands through the soil, trying the tastes and textures of different plants and shrubs you’re growing, studying your various plants closely to really notice nuances you may have missed before or simply listening to the birds chirping and the wind moving through the trees for a few minutes.
Try it out and see how you feel afterwards. You may be surprised by the results! And if you need any help with landscaping at your Chester home, get in touch with us today to see what we can do.