Have you ever considered that a simple solution to ease the pressure of daily life is just to get out into a garden or allotment and do a bit of gardening?

It has been proven that mindfulness can reduce stress and relieve anxiety and all mindfulness essentially is; is paying attention to the present and stopping the mental chatter that never ceases to stop.  Paying attention to the now reduces the thought patterns that think endlessly of the past or future.  You could say that an alternative to this mental stimulation, or rather the polar opposite is to try and still the mind.  To quiet and calm the mind.  Anyone who has mediatated even for the briefest of times knows that there are benefits to it, if only fleetingly.

Even if you get time of an evening or at a weekend it can be hard to do a bit of meditating, it seems to be hard to settle down and close off the mind but an alternative to this is to carry out a task and pay full attention to it.. I think a spot of gardening is very beneficial for the mind and any symptoms of stress or anxiety, BigGranite has a load of gardening ideas, product reviews and tips that you may wish to read more about. 

Anytime you concentrate on a task and pay full attention to it, you become present and attentive to what is.  This doesn’t mean doing a task and daydreaming mid stream, instead better to really try to concentrate on the movement you are doing.  For example: movement of a hand trowel while turning a flower bed, noticing the feel of the handle, observing the soil and how it breaks up, any smells that may be released, this sort of thing.  Try it out. I like to keep my tools for the garden in my Rubbermaid Storage Shed, it keeps them safe and away from prying hands.