How Having an Allotment Helped My Mental Health

It can be so beneficial to get your hands dirty on your allotment. By having your hands in the soil it can support your mental health through biological and sensory ways, specifically via beneficial soil microbes, stress hormone reduction and a mindful sensory connection.

Good healthy soil contains natural bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae. When you touch or inhale it, this microbe stimulates the serotonin production in the brain, which acts just like a mood uplifter. There is also the physical contact between your skin and the earth which helps lower cortisol, which is the main hormone responsible for stress and anxiety.

Digging and gardening itself can also support your mental health in a positive way. The repetitive and tactile task like digging up your potatoes or weeding your garden can help calm a busy mind and soothe the nervous system itself. 

Having an allotment can provide an important sense of connection and community. For people who may feel lonely or who don’t have family close by, having somewhere to meet and talk to others can make a real difference.

Allotment sites bring together people with a shared interest in growing, creating natural opportunities to chat, exchange advice and get to know one another. Over time, these everyday conversations can develop into friendships and valuable networks of support.

For some people, the social side of allotment life can be just as important as growing fruit and vegetables. It provides a sense of belonging and helps build lasting bonds between people – and some of the strongest friendships can begin over the garden fence.

Exercise

Exercise on your allotment is a great way to support mental health by providing natural stress relief, boosting mood- enhancing brain chemicals, and offering a calming connection to nature.

Active tasks like carrying your watering can, digging and weeding all act as a functional workout which in turn clears the mind.

Also tasks like shoveling soil and raking help raise your heart rate which then releases endorphins which is the feel good hormone that helps to lower stress and sadness.

And by bending down, lifting bags of compost and pushing the wheelbarrow you are building physical strength which overall builds on your self confidence and body image. Also working the soil helps to create a healthy physical tiredness which can help you fall into a deeper and more restful sleep at night.

Alongside their allotment activities, they help support their allotment's online presence and run a smallholding sanctuary Facebook page.

In this blog, they share their own personal experience of how having an allotment has supported them through significant physical health challenges, and why growing, nature and the allotment community have become such important parts of their life.

Their story is a personal one, but they hope it will encourage others to discover what spending time outdoors and growing can bring to their own lives.