The good weather is coming and now the desire to stay in the open-air and the need to get in contact with the nature grow for most people. Taking care of the vegetable garden is a way to let off steam practicing a manual activity. Cultivating the soil, getting your hands dirty, taking care of the plants and seeding are all activities that give you relief.

In the nineteenth century Benjamin Rush, that is considered the forefather of the American Psychiatry, declared that the care of the plants has a beneficial effect for the people with psychosis. Today many researches show the connection between the nature and the reduction of stress and depression; in particular they have proved that a frequent activity of gardening produces the reduction of the pulsation, the lowering of blood pressure and the greater regularity of the breath.

The gardening stimulates not only the sight and the olfaction, but also the touch (for example with the surface of the leaves), the hearing (the noise of the plants, the birds, the little animals, the insects and the water are very beneficial for your ears) and the taste (you can try the flours and cook the plants). The gardening offers also the possibility to make some healthy physical activities; the energy consumption depends on the kind of activity you make. For instance, one man that weights about 70kg spends about 400 calorie in one hour hoeing the ground, instead if he uses the lawn mower, he spends about 300 calorie in one hour.

It’s not necessary to own a big garden to get benefits from the garden-therapy, also to take care of the flours on your balcony aids to make you feel better.

Published 01 April 2016