Dirt-y Wellness: A Recognized Global Wellness Trend

Something new is always trending.

Wellness trends are more than just the newest fad diet or the coolest new pilates class. They can actually be much more rooted in long-term mental and physical health.

According to the Global Wellness Summit, the number one wellness trend for 2022 is “dirt-y wellness”. The Global Wellness Summit takes a deep dive into wellness practices that are trending in an effort to gain more perspective on what people choose to do for their mental and physical wellness. Time and time again, the topic of dirt-y wellness was at the top of the list. So, what’s dirt-y wellness anyways?

Dirt-y wellness is the concept of using the Earth’s soil, nature, and grounding as a way to connect with yourself, gain perspective, and calm your anxieties.

According to the Global Wellness Summit, for the vast majority of history, “people lived deep in soil, as foragers and farmers.” Fast forward to the 21st century, where tall buildings and concrete rule our worlds, we as a human race are now “soil-deprived, no longer bathing in that bacterial and fungal richness—an issue due to mounting research that indicates that soil exposure has an eye-opening impact on everything from immunity to mental health.”

Gardening and Wellness

Gardens and gardening experiences have long been noted as having a significant impact on mental and physical health. Cheddar News reflects that the “intersection between gardening and wellness is happening in real time and Gardenuity is at the forefront of the movement.” Gardenuity knows that tactile connectivity helps with the mental and physical aspects of life, therefore gardens and gardening experiences for well-being are at the core and foundation of the company. It is exciting to see the Global Trends Reporting talking about the life-changing benefits of getting your hands a little dirty and feeling the ground beneath your feet, since this is a value we have long believed in.

Gardenuity is a wellness company before anything else. It is our goal to bring accessible, easy, and sustainable garden experiences to people, no matter if they have a massive backyard, a windowsill, or a simple apartment balcony. We have been fortunate enough to see the beneficial effects of gardening, feeling soil between your fingers, and what that can do to turn your day around for the positive or get you out into the sunlight.

Grounding and Wellness

The idea of dirt-y wellness is intertwined with the centuries old practice of grounding, which can sometimes also be referred to as Earthing. Grounding is based on the idea that “humans evolved in direct contact with the Earth’s subtle electric charge.” This means that our ancestors were always in direct connection with the Earth due to the untouched, pure state of the ground and our feet at the time. As our species have evolved and technology has advanced drastically, humans have lost their direct connection with the earth. Shoes, pavement, and other inventions that have removed our bare feet from direct contact with the ground have had negative effects on mental and physical health.

There are countless studies that demonstrate the benefits of the simple act of taking a barefoot stroll through the grass, sand, mud, dirt, or whatever other earthy extract you choose, and the Global Wellness Summit can conquer. Grounding can “improve sleep, normalize the day–night cortisol rhythm, reduce pain, reduce stress, shift the autonomic nervous system from sympathetic towards parasympathetic activation, increase heart rate variability, speed wound healing, and reduce blood viscosity.”

As cited in countless studies, nature has a huge impact on health and wellness. This is a generally widely accepted and known idea. But, did you know that the act of gardening can connect us with nature? Gardening can help to heal and nourish our overall well-being and bring us back to the ancient roots of being one with the Earth. In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, University-of Florida scientists found that gardening activities lowered stress, anxiety and depression. Gardenuity’s mission is to make gardens and gardening experiences accessible to everyone, no matter where they live, work, or play. Although the idea of gardening for wellness feels relatively new, the idea of using gardening as an activity to promote better mental and physical well-being has actually been around since the 19th century. We see examples of this in prisons, mental health centers, and hospitals to help connect inmates and patients to something greater than themselves. Seeing it now widely condoned as a “wellness trend” is exciting.

Get your hands and feet dirty, because dirt-y wellness is the newest trend, and we think it is here to stay!