gardening is the answer to longevity

GARDENING IS THE ANSWER TO LONGEVITY

every tuesday am i go to my garden around 800am and work on my two garden plots
then
at 900am i join 1-3 or more volunteers doing what ever needs to be done for our community garden
sometimes like when i built the bean fence involves some math and creativity
sometimes its just plain old physical labor like two weeks ago when i helped pick up 30 donated bags of soil and compost from the local hardware store and stored them at the garden for future use

so when you look at my activity on these days
first
for the first hour i am almost in a meditative state as i work in my garden
its quiet since i have the whole garden to myself
except for the chickens and a cat that always wonders through and lots of birds and bees and butterflies
or
if you listen real good you will hear me talking to myself

i get to look up towards the perfect view of the mountains usually surrounded by these misty clouds
so
as i sort of meditate i munch on whatever i am growing eg now its green beans sweet banana peppers kale zuchini squash cherry tomatoes etc
then
as folks arrive i then do more physical labor
a lot of socializing
so
at the end of the  morning
i have meditated for an hour
ate quite healthy foods
made my peace with nature
got social interactions
got a lot of physical exercise
 it seems i usually walk around 1.7 miles when i go to the garden on these mornings

folks are always sending me articles on gardening and alzheimers disease
one recent article showed that you might be able to decrease your incidence of dementia by 36% by gardening

the same article which ill link here also mentions some common threads of groups of people who tend to live much longer than other groups
like eg
loma linda folks who tend to do these things i do every tuesday morning

meditate for them its prayer
exercise
a plant based diet
social interaction
mental exercise

another of these blue zones is okinawa
they do these above and say that folks as they age need
ikigai
a reason for living
thats where gardening comes in

longevity is like a chair
with four legs
one diet
two physical activity
three mental engagement
four social connections

if you are missing one of those legs
well you know what its like to sit in a three legged chair
right
yep
it doesnt go well

so especially before you get old you need to start doing what these blue zone folks do
making sure their chairs can stand up longer

i firmly believe that gardening is the answer to longevity

the organicgreen doctor