Why gardening is good for you?
Gardening is often described as a hobby, a chore, or simply a way to grow food. But at its core, gardening is something much deeper: it is a direct connection with nature. When you garden, you need to be aware of your surroundings, how the soil behaves, where the sunlight falls, or what the weather prognosis says. You may think these observations are insignificant, but unintentionally, we are noticing and aligning with nature.
At Living With The Moon (LWTM), Biodynamic gardening is not about forcing nature to comply with our will, but more about working with the natural flow and timing of the natural growing cycle that has shaped life for millennia. We work with companion planting, herbal soil tonics, natural pest control that doesn’t kill the whole biodiversity, and of course, work with the rhythmic timing of the season, earth tides, and more.
Cultivate your own garden
In Candide, the 18th-century French author Voltaire describes how Candide and his companions end up in Turkey, having endured treacherous and dangerous travels. On the outskirts of Istanbul, they meet an old Turk in his garden. Apparently, there is trouble in the air, but the Old Turk calmly states that he does not care about any of that. What matters is what kind of fruit grows in his garden and how much joy it brings him. This clearly makes an impression on Candide, and at the end of the book, Voltaire writes, ‘It is best to cultivate your own garden, ‘meaning, don’t concern yourself with the world, but rather look at your own fate and make the best of it.
This is also the Biodynamic philosophy. Enjoy your surroundings, create a healthy, happy, and light environment, full of laughter and happiness. Be fiercely protective of your boundaries. Try to avoid too much negative news, politics, or gossip. Don’t wallow in division, but harness harmony, and of course, stay in tune with the natural cycle.
Stay in tune with the seasonal cycle
Nature usually behaves predictably. After every night, there is a day, after every winter comes a new spring, and with it a new growing cycle. The Biodynamic year and its four seasons don’t follow the months; they change with the 4 cornerstones, the 2 solstices, and the 2 equinoxes.
Spring: Spring Equinox 20th March (when day equals night) to Summer Solstice 21st June (in the Northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year, in the Southern hemisphere, the shortest day of the year)
Summer: Summer Solstice (longest day in the Northern hemisphere, shortest day in the Southern hemisphere) to Spring Equinox, 23rd September
Autumn: Spring Equinox to Winter Solstice 21st December (Shortest Day in the Northern hemisphere, longest day in the Southern hemisphere)
Winter: Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox, and with it starts a new growing cycle.
Additionally, we also pay attention to the Waxing and Waning Cycle of the monthly lunar cycle.
Overlapping the cycle of the sun and the cycle of the moon, which, by the way, align perfectly in a 19-year rhythm, is the backbone of the Biodynamic Gardening System, and I suggest you look up the Methonic cycle to find out more about this alignment.
The health benefits of gardening?
Let’s come back to why gardening makes us happy.
Modern life often keeps us indoors, seated, artificially lit, and mentally overstimulated. But gardening gently reverses this. Put simply, it is a way to improve your environment, your body, and your mood.
When you spend time outdoors, you are automatically exposed to natural daylight, supporting your circadian rhythm. Additionally, it reduces cortisol (the stress hormone). That’s why highly stressed people often see so much value in walking in nature, exercising outdoors, or simply gardening.
But what in my view elevates gardening is that you are moving around outdoors, plus you achieve something constructive, like seeding a plant, mowing the lawn, or pruning a bush.
In addition to exercise, fresh air, and sunlight, you are also doing something productive. This surely has to have a positive impact on your mood. And indeed we know that gardening stabilises emotional regulation and makes us content. Repetitive, meaningful physical tasks are known to support mental health by anchoring attention in the present moment. One that the nervous system responds to with calm and focus.
It’s the ‘connecting to nature’ part of gardening that people find so emotionally beneficial. Many people report that gardening “clears the mind.” This is not accidental.
Slow, methodical work with cardio-vascular effort is good for your body and brain. It regulates your hormones, sleep pattern and attention span.
On a deeper level, you align yourself (microcosm) with the world at large (macro-organism).
Aligning your circadian rhythm
You may think these are little, insignificant steps, and all of this is a bit woo-hoo. So let’s look at the circadian rhythm, which might explain it a bit better. Everybody has an internal 24-hour clock that governs our sleep, hormone release, digestion, immune repair, and energy levels. It is primarily regulated by light exposure, especially daylight in the morning (the blue light) and darkness in the evening (until the early last century, that would have been the orange glow of candlelight or a fireplace)
Gardening with light exposure:
Morning: gardening increases exposure to natural blue-spectrum daylight, wakes you up, and sets you up for the day
Afternoon: gardening supports physical tiredness without overstimulation and winding down.
Unlike screens and artificial lighting, outdoor light helps your body distinguish day from night, something essential for good sleep and long-term health.
Now, guess what, plants also operate with an internal biological clock. Like us, they respond to darkness and light, temperature changes, the seasonal cycle, and the availability of water and food.
That’s why being around plants is so comforting. These are not objects, but ‘growing beings with a life-force that can communicate with other species and each other. Trees can send out distress signals to others to get more water and food. Older trees help saplings and insects pollinate in a cyclic pattern. We are all interconnected. Once you open your eyes and really understand this awareness, you will no longer feel alone, but share a sense of coherence. You are not fighting against nature; you are moving with it and with its rhythm. This feeling is inbuilt and comforting.
Working With The Biodynamic Rhythm, Not Against It
In traditional and biodynamic gardening, lunar phases have long been used as a planning reference:
- Waxing Moon — tending, planting, nurturing above-ground growth
- Full Moon — observation, harvesting herbs, enjoyment
- Waning Moon — pruning, weeding, soil work, clearing
- New Moon — rest, planning, minimal intervention
From an LWTM perspective, these practices work not because the moon “forces” plants to grow, but because they help gardeners time their actions in a way that reduces stress on plants and soil. Planting on days when there is ‘more energy’ in the soil will produce a better outcome. The same happens when you pick fruit on a fruit day. The differences are, of course, subtle, but in a former world with no artificial preservatives, people had to rely on these differences, and it worked – without the use of E numbers, stabilisers, and the rest.
Lunar Timing: A Secondary Rhythm
The Moon does not override biology, but it provides a visible, recurring rhythm that can be used for pacing activity.
In traditional and biodynamic gardening, lunar phases have long been used as a planning reference:
- Waxing Moon — tending, planting, nurturing above-ground growth
- Full Moon — observation, harvesting, enjoyment
- Waning Moon — pruning, weeding, soil work, clearing
- New Moon — rest, planning, minimal intervention
From an LWTM perspective, these practices work not because the Moon “forces” plants to grow, but because they help gardeners time their actions in a way that reduces stress on plants and the soil.
Bizarrely Biodynamic Gardening encourages restraint and knowing when not to interfere rather than over-cultivating! Let nature run its course and come and relax in the garden, watching the birds, the insects, and butterflies who do the hard work of pollination, composting, and aerating the soil. If you kill them all with pesticides, you have to do their work, and I guess you won’t be as good as a billion other creatures!
Water, Gravity, and Subtle Timing
Plants are highly sensitive to water movement in soil, roots, and stems. While moonlight itself does not drive photosynthesis, lunar gravity influences water dynamics on Earth. In outdoor environments, this can subtly affect:
- soil moisture movement
- sap flow pressure
- humidity and night-time temperature
These are not dramatic effects, but fine-scale influences — the kind that matter when repeated over seasons rather than measured in isolation.
To sum up why Gardening is good for you:
From our perspective, it naturally combines
- Physical movement in fresh air
- Exposure to daylight is beneficial for your circadian rhythm
- Sensory engagement with the plant world creates contentment
- Gently rhythmic repetition of movement that lets your mind rest and regenerate your brain
- Connection to seasonal cycles and better awareness of the natural world, so you will be part of it and not apart from it.
Gardening won’t cure you from a bad disease, but it will act as a preventative tool by steadily supporting balance, mentally, emotionally, and physically.
You do not need a large garden. A balcony, raised bed, or even a windowsill is enough to engage with these principles.
Gardening reminds us that growth cannot be rushed. Seeds do not respond to urgency; they respond to timing.
In a world that often demands constant productivity, gardening offers a counterbalance. It teaches patience, observation, and respect for natural limits. These lessons transfer quietly into daily life: better sleep, steadier energy, improved mood, and a more grounded sense of awareness.
At Living With The Moon, Biodynamic gardening is not about perfection. It is about participation. Be aware of the natural rhythms and let nature do what it has always done best with minimal human intervention.
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