So when I moved into my first very own house, I felt like I needed to play catch up. Like years of non-gardening required me to spend long, intense hours to make up for all that lost time.
There was one day in particular years ago when the need for self-care really hit home to me, when I was attacking a nasty patch of false bamboo. The false bamboo was growing like crazy along my property line, right along the edge of a rock wall. I had this whole timeline mapped out. On Day 1 I was going to remove the false bamboo, and on Day 2 of that weekend I was going to plant an amazing garden in its place.
It was a scorcher that day, and I had had a light breakfast. I was so into removing this false bamboo that I actually forgot I was hungry (that kind of never happens for me, I love to eat). Even when I realized I was hungry I didn't stop. I had a timeline to keep! Even when the false bamboo's gnarly roots held on and it took longer than I expected, I kept on digging. At one point I stood up too fast and felt woozy. I almost tipped over and fell of the rock wall. That was when I realized I was pushing myself too hard. I dropped my shovel and went out for a nice big burger. That's when I learned a valuable lesson:
Self-care is important. It should be part of everyone's gardening toolkit.
After that, I started focusing on self-care ideas to enjoy gardening with body, mind and spirit. Here are a few that have served me well. If anyone reading this has other ideas, I'd love to hear them!
Yoga and Pilates: Or really any activity that puts you in touch with your core, and in touch with being grounded in your body. I go to yoga and pilates classes, which kind of trained my muscle memory on what feels good/safe. When I'm out in the gardening lifting something too heavy, or if I start torquing my body in some weird way, an internal alarm system goes off that tells me that's not OK. Then I stop, focus on a more comfortable way to do that action, or ask someone else (like my husband, Jacob) to do it for me. It feels really good to know my limits, and not pay the price the next day with painful muscle pulls.
Stretching during gardening: Once I get warmed up, I like to stretch my arms, legs and back. This limbers me up, but also grounds me in my body. I am missing the bicep muscle in my left arm, and had a wrist fracture in my right wrist a couple years ago. So limbering up makes sure I don't injure those areas that aren't as strong as they might be otherwise.
Heat: After gardening, particularly in spring and fall when it's cooler out, applying some heat to the muscles feels kind of totally wonderful. If you're fortunate enough to have access to a sauna or hot tub, this is a great stop-off after gardening. At home another nice way to apply heat is in a nice hot bath, or using a hot water bottle on specific areas. Yummm.
Protective gear:
I wear gloves most of the time, those nice nitrile breathable ones. Great for dexterity, and reduces the amount of splinters I have to remove per year:
I also learned recently when I was wrangling with pruning my rhododendron that glasses are important too. The rhodie hit me in the eyeball while I was looking up pruning in a high spot. No damage was done, but after that I grabbed some nice big 80's L'Trimm-style sunglasses:
Lotion: My hands get dry with a lot of hand-washing and digging around and whatnot. My favorite lotion that is non-irritating is fragrance-free Alba in the pump bottle. So rich, so good:
Mental stuff: I like to check myself before I wreck myself by having little mental post-it notes. My faves are:
- I don't have to do it all today
- Gardening is not perfect, revel in the messiness and imperfections of it all.
- Enjoy the beauty of the garden today (don't focus on what's wrong).
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