Why Chiropractors' Recommend You Have A Garden

Isn’t gardening a fleeting dream? Does anyone even have time to cultivate one?

Gardening is an old, traditional hobby that isn’t as familiar nowadays. In the days of old, almost everyone knew how to take care of plants and enjoy raising flowers and herbs, but now it has become a forgotten, demanding hobby that everybody shrugs their shoulders about.

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If you are a working professional or a busy business person, your hectic life can be very stressful and gardening probably intimidates you, but it is one of the best and healthiest ways to destress at the end of your long day. It is a simple, inviting and warm hobby that you will love next to travelling.

Gardening is a rewarding thing that is worth all the time and effort you are going to spend. Here are five of the best reasons why you need to have a garden before you die.

It Promotes Physical Activity

Gardening is a good way to exercise. Even if you plan to have just a small garden, it is still going to give you some good time sweating. Weeding, shoveling, and some wheelbarrow work are good exercising tricks equivalent to lifting weights without hitting the gym.

Although the above mentioned activities can take a lot of time and space that you fear you may not be able to do it, you can choose to have your own little garden by planting one at a time on little pots that can fit in your living room or veranda.

In fact, tea planting is easy to grow, from simple stem cuttings placed in a glass of water, you can watch your new tea plants grow roots in about a week. These can then be transferred to a plant pot of your liking.

For starters, here are 5 of the easiest tea plants to grow in your own personal little tea garden.

CATNIP (Nepeta cataria)

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Catnip is a member of the mint family. It grows up to two to three feet. It has fuzzy, scalloped leaves and lemon-mint flavor. If you have cats, you cats will love this plant more than you will so be prepared for cats rolling all over it.

CHAMOMILE

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Chamomile is a perennial with lush green leaves. And when you harvest the mature flowers of the plant, you can have a light, apple-scented tea for your tea time. 

LEMON BALM (Melissa officinalis)

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Another member of the mint family, the lemon balm grows to about two foot tall and less hardy than other mints. Its scalloped, lemon-scented leaves are perfect for you evening tea.

Lemon Verbena (Aloysia triphylla)

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The lemon verbena is the tea with probably the most lemon flavor. This tea plant is a woody shrub with long leaves that are slightly sticky and deciduous. It likes being under the full sun and a well-drained soil.

Mint (Mentha spp.)

Peppermint and spearmint can be easily grown. A word of caution, though, these plants can be invasive so it is best to plant them one variety per pot so they do not interbreed with other varieties that can result in a different-tasting variety.

Isn’t it great to have all of this at home? Tea can be very expensive so having your own tea-licious garden at home won’t just give you a good time for exercise but also save you a ton of money.

If you have a big backyard space or an empty rooftop, then you have a great gardening opportunity!

Related source : How to brew tea

2.  It Promotes Mindfulness

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Cultivating a garden also promotes mindfulness. The time you spend on cleaning up your garden is also a good time for you to reflect on your actions, study your plans and reconstruct your goals.

A lot of successful individuals have gardening as a hobby. Martha Stewart and Oprah, are just two of the most successful celebrities who built their business around gardening. Gardening is a great way for you to understand yourself better as well, as you dig, water and weed out your garden. Activities like this can have a therapeutic effect on its own.

If you think being healthy is expensive, then planting your own vegetables will be great for you. Urban gardening has been a trend nowadays, and as mentioned in the first example, you can start this by planting on small pots and putting them on your empty rooftop, or on your backyard, if yours is spacious.

 

Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal for example, started his organic vegan life with his homegrown vegetables.

Instead of just lying down on your bed and snapping photos or stalking people, you can go outside and embrace the sunshine while you remove the weeds off of your plant pots.

You have to remember as well as that having a big garden can be a big responsibility and cleaning it alone can be tedious. Most people who gave up on gardening blame back pains when they are working on it. But gardening wouldn’t be difficult had they known the importance of keeping proper posture when sitting down, standing up or lifting heavy materials.

If you continue to experience such back pains when gardening, you can consult a Chiropractor to get your back pain treated and to learn about proper posture and body alignment when gardening to avoid this unnecessary aches in the future.

3. It Has A Psychological Therapeutic Effect

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Gardening is a culture in Japan. In fact, japanese gardens are designed for recreation and aesthetic purpose and temple gardens were for contemplation and meditation. Maintaining a garden is also the strategy used by Horticultural Therapists who uses gardening as way to promote well being to their participants.

Horticultural therapy in garden settings applied to the elderly community are reported to reduce pain, anxiety control, lessen stress, improve attention and reduce the use of synthetic medication as well as falls.

Gardening has been the best tool to positively promote physical exercise and to stimulate senses, creating an overall positive well being.

4.  It Strengthens Character and Values  

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Having gardening as a pastime for you and your children will reinforce positive attitude- by having a caring and nurturing nature. As your kids learn to take care of plants, it will also reflect on them by becoming caring individuals in the future.

And since they grow their own plants or flowers, they will learn how to value things and become resourceful in life. In addition, the plants or vegetables you raise can be the same food you can also consume, promoting a healthier lifestyle. The physical activities they do when gardening will further prevent obesity and early childhood disease related to unhealthy eating patterns.

Doing strenuous gym exercises can help but it is best to condition yourself to move freely and naturally, and gardening can be one of the best sources of this. When you are used to waking up in the weekends to water your plants and take care of your garden, you are naturally conditioning yourself for exercise which can greatly help your attitude towards your health and body.

5.  It Lengthens Your Life

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The overall effect of gardening is longer lifespan. As it helps prevent diseases, promote physical movements and better attitude towards life, it can have a positive effect on overall health and wellbeing.

Dan Buettner, a researcher who started the “Blue Zones” expedition together with the National Geographic, found out that plant-based diets, natural movement,  right outlook and connection are the main ingredients of longevity.

Your homegrown plants can be your best source of food because you know what fertilizers you used in growing them, unlike buying the “good looking” veggies and fruit in the market which are probably shiny because of wax and living higher shelf lives because of injected preservatives.

Your own garden can also help you connect to yourself and to others, like the way it helps to treat the elderly community. You don’t have to reach retirement to have enough time for gardening. As they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way, so it is all about willingness and the tenacity to make it happen.

As you start, spark and cultivate life, you are also investing and speaking life to yourself.

Author Bio:

Melissa K Symmonds is a Certified Recreational Therapist and a Chiropractic Enthusiast. Her passion lies on helping people realize their fullest potential by reconnecting to self, nature and to others. She is currently associated with Papa Chiropractic, a Chiropractor in Palm Beach Gardens FL.