Gardening for Seniors

As the Winter months give way to Spring, a time of new growth and celebration, one way seniors can ring in the coming season’s warmth and bountiful plentitude is by taking up a new hobby, particularly gardening. The warmer temperatures and increased sunlight are perfect conditions for getting outside, getting in the dirt, and planting your favorite flowers or vegetables. Seeing a garden grow from seed to a panoply of brightly colored flowers, lush greens, and nutritious vegetables is one of the most satisfying projects one can undertake, and more than that, it has many benefits that are of particular interest to senior citizens. Read on to find out more about how this hobby can help you to live your best life as you enter your twilight years.

• Lowered Stress: Studies have shown that your levels of cortisol, the hormone responsible for causing the physiological reactions associated with stress, can be lowered through gardening. It can also reduce high blood pressure. In a study where participants performed a stressful task, and then followed it with gardening, there was a marked decline in levels of cortisol after the gardening was completed. Study participants also exhibited a positive mood, compared to others in the study that did not garden, and experienced a decline in mood. The sunlight, and the creation of a beautiful, curated space brings with it peace, and a reduction in anxiety.
• Serotonin: The brain chemical that increases mood and calmness, serotonin, is one of the most important for continued health. There have been studies that have linked gardening to a reduction in the symptoms of depression. Theories abound as to why this is, one is that a bacteria in soil triggers the release of serotonin, acting as a natural anti-depressant. Another idea is that the positive feelings associated with creating a garden and watching the fruits of your labor rise up from the ground creates positive feelings.
• Health: Gardening is in fact a moderate form of exercise, counting towards the recommended 30 minutes a day, maintaining heart health and musculature. And of course, sunlight increases levels of vitamin D in the body, reducing the risk of heart disease, as well as helping to maintain bone density.
• Mobility: As well as being a great way to exercise your body, gardening can help to maintain and increase mobility and strength. By using your whole body to dig, plant, and transfer plants, gardening keeps lesser used muscles engaged, helping to rebuild strength and mobility.
• Brain health: While the causes of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are not necessarily well understood, what we do know is how you can minimize your chances of contracting them. Keeping your mind engaged and working helps shield you from the effects of Alzheimer’s, and gardening, while seeming on the face of it purely physical, is one way to keep yourself thinking. Engaging critical functions like dexterity, problem solving, endurance, and planning help protect your mind from falling into disuse, keeping yourself sharp and focused, which will help slow or even prevent entirely the development of the more harmful effects of dementia.