Breathing

Concentrate on breathing deep while you work by filling up your diaphragm so your lower belly expands as much as possible then slowly exhale. According to a study conducted by Anand Shetty at Hampton University in Virginia, deep breathing provides your body’s cells with oxygen, which helps you absorb nutrients. It also stimulates your lymphatic system to get rid of toxins. If your breath is shallow, also known as chest breathing, your cells are receiving fewer nutrients and your lymphatic system may be more sluggish, both of which may lead to weight gain, according to the study. Deep breathing increases the supply of oxygen in your body and this extra oxygen supplied to your body helps in burning the extra fat deposited in the body. Breathing deeply improves blood circulation and tones the abdominal muscles.

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Wide range of motion

Increase your range of motion while you garden by using long strides and reach to burn more calories and take the stress off of your smaller muscles like arms and lower back.

• Exaggerate your raking motion and digging motion. You can use up 500 calories an hour that way! (Official counts put ordinary gardening activities at the 100- to 200-per-hour calorie-burning level when not using deep breathing and exaggerated range of motion techniques.) • Another strategy is balancing the work between both sides of the body, for example raking right-handed 15 times, then left-handed 15 times. • Double digging (going down a foot, turning the soil over, then down another foot, and bringing that soil to the top) is fabulous exercise. You will feel the burn and create a bountiful garden at the same time.

Keeping Kids Tone and Healthy

With the ever-growing epidemic of childhood obesity, Family Gardening is something parents and kids can do together to be healthy together. Outside time is far better than inside video gaming, both mentally and physically. You never know when those seeds will sprout. Many who pulled weeds as kids come back to gardening when they get their first apartment or home. EDGE June | July 2021

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