Things to do this week in your garden- February Week 2
Mindful Gardening and Floristry activities to calm your mind and soothe your soul
I know it’s cold outside, it might even be a little drizzly. So the thought of getting outside and gardening seems BIZARRE! You’d probably much rather snuggle up on the sofa or take a nap right now.
But humour me here.
One of the biggest reasons I hear for people not getting out in their gardens is because they feel like they don’t have time.
But there’s a disconnect here. We (and I include myself in this) spend hours staring at our phones in a bid to make ourselves feel better, or to distract ourselves from something that we find boring, or difficult, or downright painful. Even though we know it isn’t good for us and will actually end up filling our already stressed out minds with even more crap we don’t need floating around in there.
So what if we spent that time out in nature with our hands in the soil, doing something that is scientifically proven to reduce our stress levels and quiet our minds.
With the added bonus that by doing some of the gardening ‘tasks’ now and spreading the load throughout the year, we give ourselves less to do in Spring. Meaning we don’t get overloaded and give up before we’ve even begun to feel those benefits.
That’s exactly what I committed to once I had my eldest daughter 6 years ago. Regular time for me in the garden no matter the time of year to find some headspace and make a promise to myself and my brain to show that I wanted to look after us.
Sure there are days when it doesn’t happen (I do not enjoy gardening in the rain) but when some of my mindful gardening activities are just 5 minutes long I can usually peel myself away from my phone screen for long enough to actually get outside and do the thing i’ve promised myself i’ll do. And once I’m out there, so often 5 minutes turns into 20 minutes and I come back inside feeling like i’m floating on a cloud of calm. Even if it is a bit fresh outside and the soil is damp underfoot.
If you’d like to give yourself the gift of a quiet mind AND a gorgeous garden this year then there is no better place to start than with this weeks activities.
Either upgrade below or if you’re already in my Substack gardening gang, scroll on down and get gardening!