What is National Growing For Wellbeing Week?

Can Gardening improve emotional wellbeing?

Clean cut grass, fresh flowers, birds chirping, there can be a subtle peaceful environment when a garden is looking healthy, can’t there?

Similarly in life, to make something great it often needs time and commitment to have it grow into something special. 

Today I’ll be discussing the benefits growing your own produce can have, how we can use these benefits in other aspects of our lives and how we can use these findings to get started (or continue!) our End of Life plans, all whilst bringing up National Growing for Wellbeing Week!

The Benefits 

Structure 

One of the best remedies to poor wellbeing is routine. 

When somebody is feeling depressed or anxious, it can often be difficult to do the simplest of tasks, such as getting out of bed in the morning. 

Getting out of bed in the morning, brushing your teeth or having a shower, these are routine things that help you start your day well. 

Much like brushing your teeth or making a cup of tea, gardening can become a daily activity in anybody’s life. 

Even if a small section of the day is spent nurturing the garden, this can lead to a compound effect where large improvements are gradually made overtime. 

Resulting in a host of benefits such as better hormone control, sleep patterns, mental stamina and learning – not to mention a tidier and more productive garden!

As humans are creatures of habits, the smallest of such can have great effects on helping build a solid daily routine. 

Even just a 5 minute check of the plants, leaves or vegetables outside can help build the transferable skills which will help you in other areas of your life. 

And before you know it, after 14 days, you’ll find yourself attending the garden on auto pilot and benefitting in other ways too.

Confidence 

Watching your garden grow can also be a great self esteem booster. 

Like any project, seeing what you’ve created started to bear fruit can be extremely meaningful. 

Much like a business owner expanding staff, a restaurant manager getting new equipment or a charity receiving more donations, achieving results can be a humbling experience for anyone. 

As the years go by you can find solace in the fact your garden will always be growing and, in turn, you will always be growing with it. 

Moreover,  it’s important to remember, gardening is fantastic for helping build connections! 

Not only is this true in building a connection with nature,

but also in building connections between like minded communities, individuals and groups who also share the same passion. 

And like any other activity or hobby, bringing like minded individuals together is an excellent way to feel a part of something much greater than doing it all by yourself. 

Which is one of the main highlights of discussion for all participants of National Growing for Wellbeing Week across the country.

Transferable Skills with End of Life Planning 

Similar to gardening, an End of life Plan starts off small. 

Maybe with a few ideas, a few scribbles on a notepad or a few tasks that need to be done,

An End of Life Plan is similar to a fruit seed, it needs attention, commitment and a desire to make work. 

And like a fruit seed, it takes time for it to reach its full potential! 

But as mentioned previously, probably the best transferable skill which is gained from gardening is consistency. 

Which is why, like a plant, an End of Life Plan is something you work on diligently over some period of time. 

Creating an End of Life Plan doesn’t follow a rigid timescale of completion like a fruit seed, 

For example, you’re not exactly going to have to wait 9 months for your End of Life Plan to harvest…

But you do want to get all the details correct, all the financials in order and any wishes written down. 

This takes time, but the reward is excellent. 

And seeing an empty garden transform into a beautiful environment is similar to seeing a page of ideas and tasks turn into your very own End of Life Plan!

To learn how to garden, people often read magazines or search online (or check out National Growing for Wellbeing websites),

But how can you create your very own End of Life Plan? 

How to Start 

A great way to get starting (and have some fun too!) is to check out the End of Life Planning Card Deck, alongside your print workbook to make it an entertaining game with yourself, friends and family, check it out here. 

But if you’re looking for specialised help, our team of amazing licensed facilitators are always available, take a look here.