TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF WHILE GARDENING

lifestyle: helpful tips

Gardening is a great activity, a wonderful way to make the home nicer to live in, and it’s also the kind of thing that is actually good for you. There are notable proven benefits to gardening, including boosts to your mood and improvements to your mental health generally, as well as physical benefits from the fact that it is a kind of subtle physical exercise. All that being said, you do also need to make sure that you are taking care of yourself while you are doing it.

In this post, we are going to discuss what you can do to ensure you are taking care of yourself more effectively while gardening. If you can make sure of the following, you should find that you are going to really notice a huge difference to how you garden, and that your body and mind will benefit as much as possible.

Warm Up

You should really start thinking of gardening as a bit of a workout, because it actually is. If you can get prepared for this in the right way, it’s really going to make a huge difference. Essentially this means that you need to warm up a little if you are going to get your body ready for moving around. This can be as simple as five minutes of stretching, but the point is that you are doing all you can to get your body into a limber state ready for moving around.

It’s a simple thing, but it is going to protect you from damaging yourself, and you’ll find that you are able to move around the garden with greater ease.

Use The Right Tools

A lot of this does come down to which tools you are using. You need to make sure that you are using tools which are going to reduce the strain on your body. That might mean you want to make use of ergonomic tools, for instance, which tend to help in this exact way. You could also consider using long-handled tools so that you don’t have to bend over as much - over time this can really effectively save your back, and you might be surprised just how effectively they can work. From a fork to a leaf vacuum and more, make sure you are using tools that are specifically going to help you with this.

As long as you are making things as easy as possible for yourself with the use of the right tools, it really is going to help you to care for yourself much more while you are gardening, so this is something you should bear in mind here.

Mind Your Posture

While you are gardening, it’s a good idea to try and remain mindful of your posture throughout. The more effectively you can do that, the better it is going to be in terms of being able to keep your body cared for and intact. So if you are keen to look after yourself, you should make sure that you are trying to be as aware of your posture as possible. Of course, this is not just about being aware of it, but also changing it as necessary to ensure that you are not causing yourself unnecessary strain.

You might try kneeling on a gardening kneeling pad instead of bending over, for instance, or you might want to sit on a low stool. You can also consider alternating tasks often to avoid repetitive strain, as this is the kind of thing that is really going to help a lot. All in all, having a strong posture is going to help you to avoid most potential bodily problems while gardening.

Stay Hydrated

Remember: this really is physical exertion, and you need to make sure you are caring for yourself as you would if you were doing any other kind of exercise. That means staying hydrated throughout, too. You should ideally carry a bottle of water with you and continue to sip that as you go. This is going to help ensure that you are approaching your gardening much more effectively and that you are caring for yourself a lot better. It’s the kind of thing that is really going to make a difference.

As you can see, there are all sorts of ways in which you can take care of yourself effectively while gardening, so make sure that you are doing these and you should find it really does make a difference.