Body, soul and gardening - Beat the winter blues with mindful gardening

Body, soul and gardening - Beat the winter blues with mindful gardening

Mindfulness – which put simply means living fully in the present, rather than worrying about the past or future - has huge benefits including stress relief and better focus.
 
Gardening is the perfect activity to connect with what you’re doing and your surroundings, even in winter, and especially on those bright crisp days when the sky is blue and clear, colours glow and you’re so focussed on pruning or digging that worries seem to fade.
 
Many of us already know the soothing effect of gardening, but if you need help dealing with negative feelings, the key, say mindfulness experts, is not to not berate yourself for feeling that way, instead, gently move your focus to what you’re doing on a sensory level.  Try to notice everything around you, the colours of berries and bark, the scent in the air, the birdsong, slowing your breathing down, until you begin to feel that sense of calm that gardening like nothing else, can bring. And relax…

You may also like

View all

Plant of the month - Salvia

At this time of year, the soft summer pinks have faded, to be replaced with rich-toned jewels shining out from the borders.  Salvias are a stand-out plant in a mixed...
Read More

Body, soul and soil - the sounds of nature

When you’re in your garden, balcony or patio and you stop to sit down for a few minutes, what can you hear? Is your garden a peaceful place?  Perhaps it’s...
Read More

Gardeners' notes - jobs to do in August

Clip lavender Cutting back lavender now when it’s finished flowering helps to keep the growth strong and retains a neat, compact shape.  Clip all the spent flowers and shear the...
Read More