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The Physical Reward to Using Gardening as a Stress Reliever
Gardening has often been prescribed as an antidote to mental suffering such as stress and anxiety. Digging in the earth, enjoying the warm sunshine and watching living things grow are huge stress-relieving rewards for your gardening efforts. But have you considered the physical reward to using gardening as a stress reliever? Beyond the obvious benefits of mental restoration, you should also consider gardening activity as a physical reward that can bring restored health and vigor to your body. When you feel good from being outdoors and creating something substantial in the way of beauty or food for the garden, your sense of well-being will increase. Studies show that gardeners have…
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Ways to Improve Your Confidence in Making Decisions
Not being able to make a decision can be frustrating, both for you and the people around you. However, there are ways to improve your confidence in making decisions. It will help if you can determine why you find yourself lacking in the confidence needed to make decisions in your life. For example, you may have grown up where your parents made all the decisions for you, and you were told not to question them. Another reason may be that you do not like the pressure it puts on you, as you question whether you are making the right decision. Perhaps you’re fearful as to how your decision will affect…
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How to Appear Confident Even When you Don’t Feel Like It
Most people experience times in their lives when their confidence levels are tested. This is normal, as confidence can fluctuate depending on the situation. It is completely normal to feel confident in certain situations and not in others. Therefore, the first thing to acknowledge is that you are no different than anyone else. However, here are some tips on how to appear confident even when you don’t feel like it. Look for people who are responding positively to you For all of us, there are certain situations that can cause anxiety, fear, and lack of confidence. Usually these involve doing something that is a new experience for you. Looking for…
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Don’t Wait for Conditions to be Perfect
When the U.S was in the middle of the space race, the challenge arose to find a writing implement that could function in zero gravity. Normal pens rely on gravity as the ink flows down and connects with the paper below. If you have ever tried to write upside down with an ordinary ball-point pen, you probably have experienced the frustration of having the flow of ink stop. After spending two years and a million dollars, NASA reportedly developed a pen that could work in zero gravity and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 degrees Celsius. Russian engineers, when faced with the same problem, decided to use a…
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Don’t Let Fear of Failure Hold You Back
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Tap Into Your Spiritual Side by Using Gardening to Alleviate Stress
Your spiritual nature is as important as your physical and mental state in your overall well-being. Whether or not you belong to an organized religion or belief system, you can tap into your spiritual side by using gardening to alleviate stress and allowing your mind to focus on something besides life’s many problems. Digging in the soil has the same effect on your mind as athletic activity. It’s now viewed by medical science as a way to get mental and spiritual therapy for those who are depressed. Verdant foliage, flowers, water, wildlife and smells all add to the harmonious nature of a garden and can have many healing effects when…
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3 Types of Gardens You Can Grow to Combat Stress
Stress relief can be as close as your garden. Rather than reaching for alcohol or an over-the-counter medication to calm your nerves, consider gardening as a rewarding activity that will combat the stresses that you encounter from day to day. Stress relief from the garden can come from flowers, a beautiful and relaxing butterfly garden or a food garden so you can enjoy nature’s bounty on your table in exciting and delicious recipes. Just the act of cultivating a garden can be a restful and peaceful experience. Getting outdoors in the warm sunshine and communing with nature by helping plants grow and provide beauty or harvest can be relaxing and…
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Recognize the Positives in Your Life and Be Grateful
It is so easy to be discouraged about the negative things that happen. Maybe you’re dealing with some health issues, or having trouble with family members. These things seem to demand our attention every day. However, if you are willing to make the effort, it can become just as easy to recognize the positives in your life and be grateful. Why is it that many of us expend so much energy on what is wrong as compared to what is going well in our world? It is one thing to recognize the positives, but yet an entirely different thing to be grateful for them. There are two components of being…
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Raise Your Serotonin Levels and Decrease Stress By Digging in the Dirt
In his book, Last Child in the Woods, author Richard Louv writes about how we have been harmed by living lives that are no longer connected with nature. What Louv refers to as “nature deficit disorder” is linked to obesity, attention disorders, and depression. In fact, scientists have discovered that you can raise your serotonin levels and decrease stress by digging in the dirt. The scientific term for healthful bacteria that soil contains is Mycobacterium vaccae – a non-pathogenic form of bacteria found naturally in dirt. This amazing form of bacteria can increase serotonin levels that keep your mood upbeat and help reduce allergies and other physical disorders which arise…
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Use Gardening to Calm Your Senses
Gardening benefits your health and well-being in so many ways and appeals to all the senses. Many people are turning to “sensory” gardens to enjoy the stimulation you can get for touch, sight, smell and sound. It’s easy to achieve and satisfying to create. Today, many care facilities are using a sensory garden for their patients. A stroll through the features it offers can relax and calm patients – and studies indicate it helps those children with autism and other disabilities to better process their thoughts and actions. Planning a Stress Relieving Garden When choosing plants for a sensory garden, remember to design and choose the plants in the garden…
