According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, moderate levels of activity for at least 2.5 hours every week can reduce the risk for high blood pressure, obesity, stroke, depression, colon cancer, and even premature death. The CDC accounts for gardening as a moderate-intense level activity and believes that those who choose gardening are likely to exercise for longer than those who choose high intensity activities like swimming.

Some experts relate this to what is known as the biophilia hypothesis, an instinctual connection that we feel toward other living things. Almost everyone at one point or the other in their life, has admitted how they feel at peace, or calmer amidst nature. Whatever it may be, the connection between nature and the human mind is yet unexplored to its full potential but one thing is certain, activities that involve being with and around nature like gardening have a positive impact on our mental well being, as such:

1. Lower blood pressure

Contact with nature has been shown to have positive effects on blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension. Van den Berg and Custer found that gardening for a period of time led to greater levels of stress reduction than relaxing techniques like reading, using salivary cortisol as a measure.

2. Cognitive decline

Dementia and alzheimer’s disease are two of the most crippling mental diseases that affect the population today. A well-researched study that followed close to three thousand elderly individuals for 16 years, capturing occurrences of all kinds of dementia and checking a variety of lifestyle factors, found that a daily dose of gardening represented the largest risk reduction for dementia – a solid 36%,while a different study inferred the reduction of risk at a whopping 47%. Gardening, which engages so many of our important functions like endurance, strength, learning, dexterity, problem solving, sensory awareness and plenty others, is a truly wholesome experience with unimaginable mental and physical benefits, especially for those beyond a certain age.

3. Lower anxiety

According to a 2017 meta-analysis in Preventive Medicine, gardening was positively linked to reduction in anxiety and depression symptoms. Gardening gives you a lift that helps you look beyond the limits of these disorders. Factors like physical activity, cognitive stimulation, being close to nature, and the fulfillment of working with your own hands seem to play a part in this. Aiming for a combination of food-bearing, aromatic, and flower blooming plants gives a good balance to your gardening endeavor that boosts the positivity associated with it.

4. Mood

Like any good hobby, gardening has an active community. A 2016 study featured in the Journal of Public Health showed that gardening in groups boosts the mental benefits of gardening by having an effect on total mood disturbance, morale and general health compared to those of a control group.

Get don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty while gardening and let off some steam. There are plenty of benefits to reap, so as to speak. Just make sure you are well hydrated and don’t push yourself too hard from the get go. Most importantly, remember to have fun and work diligently, the rewards will follow.