In summer, seeing your first tomatoes appear or picking a few basil leaves provides a special pleasure. And it’s not just a matter of taste. “This can have very concrete effects on psychological well-being”says Amélie Boukhobza, psychologist. Here are the 5 unsuspected benefits of this activity for morale.
Gardening forces us to slow down
Water your plants, remove a damaged leaf, observe a flower opening… When you garden, you put your phone down. We put our hands in the earth and the mind stops running from one thought to another.
“Gardening naturally slows down the pace. For a few minutes, attention is focused on a simple and concrete task: watering, observing, repotting, harvesting. A type of activity which mobilizes what we call gentle attention and which allows the brain to recover after a day of constant demands”confides the practitioner.
Seeing a plant grow gives you confidence
We sometimes spend our days responding to messages or completing files without feeling like we’ve really made progress. With a vegetable garden, the result is gradual, but clearly visible. A flower becomes a fruit. A seed eventually emerges from the ground. Success is before our eyes.
“There is also the feeling of efficiency and satisfaction. Seeing a plant grow thanks to its own actions provides a very particular pleasure. We find the feeling of acting on our environment. It’s great!”recognizes Amélie Boukhobza.
A great lesson in patience
By dint of getting everything in just a few clicks, we sometimes forget that some things simply take time. The vegetable garden reminds us of this every day.
“Gardening teaches you to accept time. A seed does not grow faster because you observe it every hour. This reminds us that certain things can neither be accelerated nor controlled. A nice lesson in life in an age of immediacy”recognizes the psychologist.
A feeling of satisfaction
She is not necessarily bigger or prettier. However, the first tomato that we harvest often has a particular flavor. Because we’ve been waiting for it for weeks.
“Harvesting what we have grown also activates the reward circuits. The brain values more what it has invested time and effort in. Result: a tomato picked from your balcony provides more satisfaction than a purchased tomato, even if they are identical”confides the practitioner.
The pleasure of being amazed
Growing a few vegetables finally promotes contact with living things. A welcome break from a daily life often punctuated by screens!
“Observing the seasons, the weather, the insects or the transformations of a plant helps to escape from a functioning centered on screens and daily concerns. The connection with nature is also associated with a reduction in stress and better emotional regulation”underlines Amélie Boukhobza.
Just look at the children. “Seeing them marvel at a first raspberry, following the growth of a strawberry every day or impatiently waiting for a seed to germinate… It’s wonderful,” continues the psychologist.
So you will have understood: you don’t need a large plot of land to enjoy the benefits of gardening. A few pots of cherry tomatoes or strawberries are already enough to create this little meeting with nature. A simple way to take care of your morale… without leaving your balcony!