There are many great things you can turn to when you need to replenish your soul. Maybe you like to read a good book after a long day of work. Or, perhaps you love to sip on a hot cup of herbal tea, go for a run outside, or journal in your bedroom. These outlets are wonderful avenues to relax and rejuvenate, but if you're looking for another creative way to unwind, you may want to consider gardening.
If you don't regularly plant flowers, herbs, or vegetables, it may surprise you to know that gardening is good for the soul, and that statement is not an exaggeration. There are science-backed benefits of gardening, and each one affects your physical, emotional, or mental health.
The benefits of gardening
It’s important to make something clear right at the beginning. You don’t need a fancy courtyard with hedges, pavilions, arbors, and every plant known to man to enjoy your garden.
Whether it's a small plot of dirt in your backyard or flowers lining your front porch, you can experience relief from your plants. And if you don't believe that's true, here are five research-based reasons why gardening is good for the soul.
1. Gardening promotes sleep and builds strength
According to the CDC, gardening is a form of exercise. When you're raking and cutting grass, you're doing a light to moderate workout, and when you're shoveling, digging, or chopping wood, you're exercising enough muscles that you could consider the activity a vigorous workout.
Regardless of what you're doing in the yard, gardening works out every muscle in your body to the point where you may feel a little sore. And because you're breaking a sweat every time you garden, you not only get good exercise but studies suggest you also experience better sleep.
2. Gardening is a mood booster
Research indicates that gardening is excellent at enhancing your mood and increasing your self-esteem. When you spend time in a garden, experts believe that your anxiety levels drop and that you feel good.
A 2011 study analyzed people with depression and had them participate in a gardening intervention for 12 weeks. After researchers looked at the results, they found that the participants' depression symptoms significantly improved and that those improvements lasted for months after the study.
3. Gardening relieves stress
It's essential to find a healthy stress reliever, and gardening may be one that you'd like to try. During a 2011 study, researchers exposed participants to a stressful situation. Afterward, they asked half of the group to spend time reading while the other half had to spend time gardening.
When the researchers examined the participants' stress levels, they noticed that the group who gardened had recovered from stress better than the group who read quietly. The group that gardened also claimed that they were in a more positive mood, while very few readers said the same.
4. Family, school, and community gardens encourage connection
Family gardens and community gardens are everywhere. In fact, you can even find gardens at schools. While beautiful, these local gardens aren't just great decorations that are pleasing to the eye. If you really want to enjoy their benefits, you should hang out in these gardens to foster human connection.
For one study, students who participated in school gardens shared details about their experience, and they said the relationships they developed and the skills they learned gave them a sense of personal well-being. By working with people of different backgrounds, abilities, and ages, they expanded who they know and what they know.
5. Gardening improves your physical health
It's well known that plants go through something called photosynthesis, a process where they use the sunlight to make their own food. But did you know that your body is also capable of photosynthesis?
To make vitamin D, your skin uses sunlight, and researchers believe that spending a half-hour in the sun can create 8,000 to 50,000 international units of vitamin D in your body. With this nutrient, studies suggest that your body can become stronger and fight off various diseases, including the following:
It should also go without saying that low levels of vitamin D can affect your health but in a worse way. So, if you want to soak up the right amount of sun, gardening is a fun, easy way to do so.
Ornaments for beautiful gardens
Maybe you want to start gardening or have a garden that you want to keep decorating. If that's the case, you need some tools. At Khutsala Artisans, you can buy colorful, handmade gardening stakes and decorations that will add an extra layer of beauty to your garden. In fact, here are a few products you may like.
1. Redeemed Garden Stake
With hundreds of recycled beads, the Redeemed Garden Stake adds a vibrant flair to your garden. The beads are collected, washed, dried, and reused, making them eco-friendly and healthy additions alongside your flowers, herbs, or vegetables. No two stakes are the same, so they're great ornaments if you want your garden to stand out.
Buy the Redeem Garden Stake HERE.
2. Beaded Critter and Bird Garden Stakes
If you're looking for a unique touch to your green space, check out the Beaded Critter and Bird Garden Stakes. These beautiful hand-crafted ornaments come in multiple forms—you can choose between a hummingbird, dragonfly, bee, lizard, butterfly, and more. Each ornament is one of a kind, and the 15-inch stake attached to the critters and birds is easy to cut to your preferred size.
Buy the Beaded Critter and Bird Garden Stakes HERE.
3. Daisy Garden Stakes
If you have a vegetable or herb garden but still love flowers, you should buy the Daisy Garden Stakes. These garden stakes are beautiful, handmade ornaments that can add a pop of color to your garden, and they come in multiple shades. You can choose from pink, green, purple, red, white, and more—or you can get all of them if you'd prefer to spread the flowers out among your vegetables and herbs.
Buy the Daisy Garden Stakes HERE.
Enrich your soul
There are many other garden stakes that you can buy at Khutsala Artisans. You can shop the entire Spring Collection here. But no matter what you buy, please know that your purchase is making a positive impact.
By investing in gardening, you're taking steps to enrich your soul. And when you buy from Khutsala Artisans, you're helping support a good cause. All of the profits from Khutsala Artisans go to Heart for Africa, a faith-based humanitarian organization that provides food, education, resources, and love to orphaned and vulnerable children in Eswatini. So, start shopping with purpose today to enrich your soul and help those in need.
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