Enhance your emotional and physical well-being

Growing your own vegetables or flowers has its own delicious and beautiful rewards. Gardening leads to healthy veggies packed with nutrients. It colors your world with cheerful flowers. And it gets you exposed to much-needed vitamin D. 

Gardening also cultivates emotional and physical wellness. Whether you plant a large vegetable plot or a few herbs or flowers, you’ll notice many rewards.

Emotional benefits of gardening

As you nurture the veggies or tend to the flowers, you gain positive feelings of being connected to nature.

• Find your happy place. Time spent on gardening activities can help reduce depression and anxiety.
• Sow more and stress less. Gardening impacts cortisol levels, reducing stress and nurturing your mental well-being.
• Bask in the sunshine. Outdoor activities expose you to vitamin D, which can enhance your mood. Remember the sunscreen!

Physical benefits of gardening

Growing your own food or planting flowers gets you physically active, while exposing you to sunshine and enhancing your diet. 

• Get your exercise. Digging, planting and weeding can lower your blood pressure.
• Boost your bone health. The vitamin D you soak in on a sunny day contributes to healthy bones and teeth.
• Enhance your diet. Enjoy more of those fresh veggies that are so good for you.

Protect your back while gardening

Remember a few basic tips to take good care of your back:

• Avoid bending from the hips as much as you can.
• Lift smart and let your legs do the work.
• Change positions often, take frequent breaks and stay hydrated.

Get relief with the MobileBack^SM app

Avid gardener? Just getting started? No matter where you’re at, it helps to strengthen your back.

Quartz MobileBack is an app-based program available to many members at no cost. Prevent and find relief from back pain.

• Start moving with exercises designed by spine physical therapists.
• Discover helpful insights and tips for back health.
• Stay motivated and keep moving with in-app coaching.

Visit QuartzBenefits.com/MobileBack and learn more.

Community gardening

Don’t have space or access to a private garden? Prefer to share the experience with others? Consider community gardening.

Also known as allotment gardening, community gardening offers the same health and wellness benefits, while:

• Encouraging social contact
• Enhancing skills and self-esteem
• Contributing to a sense of community

Look for local city resources to find a community garden near you.

Sources:

Soil to Supper, “Gardening Improves Emotional Well-Being,” (accessed January 20, 2020, available at  www.soiltosupper.com

Good Housekeeping, “7 Benefits of Gardening That Prove It Helps Your Mind and Body,” (accessed January 20, 2020), available at www.goodhousekeeping.com