Exercise can be fun when you are doing an activity you love. Not everyone likes to go to the gym to exercise, and that is okay. There are alternatives. You can be creative in how you workout to keep your body physically fit. It is recommended a person get thirty minutes of moderate exercise a day to maintain good health. Moderate exercise requires you to perform an activity that increases the heart rate. Sometimes you can find a way to use your hobby as a form of exercise. Gardening is one example of a hobby that when done correctly can promote health.

Gardening can incorporate strength training, stretching, and endurance exercises.  It all boils down to how you go about doing the activity. Lifting bags of mulch or dirt, digging holes, pushing a wheelbarrow, raking, weeding and cutting the lawn can provide a person with good exercise. Now if you cut the grass sitting on a riding mower, you higher the neighbor to do the raking, or you only do a couple of minutes pulling weeds, you will not get the benefits of working in the yard. You must stay active for 30 minutes. Research has shown a person can benefit from exercise when done in smaller intervals that total 30 minutes in a day as long as the intervals are at least 8 minutes in duration. Gardening for thirty to forty-five minutes a day can burn between one hundred and fifty to three hundred calories per session.

Gardening is an excellent way to increase muscle strength as it incorporates all the major muscle groups. A person is strengthening the various muscle groups in the functional range since they are doing everyday activities. Often in a gym, most people do the strengthening exercises concentrically (shortening the muscle), and yet in daily life, we use a lot of our muscles eccentrically (lengthening the muscle).

There are so many other benefits a person can reap from gardening.

• Gardening is a relaxing activity. It has been shown to reduce stress and decrease anxiety.
• By growing herbs and vegetables, you can ensure you will have plenty of healthy food on your table. By making sure the plants are an heirloom or non-GMO’s seeds or starter plants you will provide better nutrition for your body.
• Grounding or earthing helps to bring our bodies back into a balanced state by neutralizing the free radicals that can cause health problems. Allowing your bare hands or bare feet come in contact with the earth can do wonders for the body.
• Spending time in the sun helps our bodies produce vitamin D3, which is essential for maintaining the immune system, decrease the risk of some cancers and heart disease.
• Resistive training strengthens the bones and joints.
• Exercising boosts hormones that help people feel good and strengthens the heart.
• Gardening can help you connect with God by enjoying the beauty He has created and admiring all the details of the plants.Each plant is unique. Each herb, vegetable, and fruit is designed to provide us with specific nutrients. A combination of produce provides our bodies with the vitamins and minerals needed to keep us healthy and fight disease. The smells and tastes are very different, and we can appreciate how much effort God put into providing the proper nourishment for His children.

God loves gardens. He created and put the first people in the Garden of Eden and provided them with all the essentials to live.  He knew gardens were essential for our well being.

Our faith can also be related to gardening. Our faith like our life goes through seasons. These seasons help us to grow in our faith. My favorite season is summer. That is when our faith is in full bloom.  It’s  a great feeling to be in this season because we are walking with God and very comfortable with our faith.  We are doing His ministry and life is good.  He fills us with great joy and peace. Then the fall comes.  Things start to change. There are some struggles, and maybe our faith is challenged. We may lose a loved one, friends move away, we go through a trial, or we may question some of Gods ways.  These challenges may lead us into the winter season. Oh, how we dread this season. The days seem dark and cold.  Our faith has been shaken, and we are not sure what to do. We may even question whether God is present.  Life is dormant. Although this is the hardest season, it is also one of the most productive. When we get through winter, we get to witness the spring.  And like the spring our faith begins to bloom.  We survived the winter, and we now know God was right next to us protecting us.  Spring is the time our faith begins to sprout new shoots. People get to see God’s work in us, and we are a witness as to what God can do for us to bring us out of our winter season. What season of faith are you currently experiencing?  You should take time to appreciate this season as it is necessary to grow your faith. Know that God is with you throughout all the seasons and will shower you with blessings. He uses these times to help you grow in faith, develop a stronger relationship with Him, and to fulfill his ultimate goal that one day you will spend eternity with Him.

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.  A Time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. Ecclesiastes 3:1-4