Houseplants are excellent decorations for your home. They can quickly spruce up any dull space on a budget. But they do more good than beautifying your home; they make us feel better! Filling your home with plants can be a surprisingly effective way to improve your mental and physical wellbeing, making you feel more relaxed and generally happier.
How Do Plants Keep Us Healthier?
Plants Reduce Stress & Anxiety
Active interaction with indoor plants, such as smelling and touching them, can reduce mental and physical stress. Even if they’re just tiny houseplants, being surrounded by greenery improves our happiness and wellbeing. To be exact, research has shown that houseplants can reduce stress levels by up to 40%. From watering and taking care of plants to as simple as getting a whiff of their scent, plants can positively impact your mental health.
Every bit of a plant helps with your mood; the potting soil alone can help keep daily stress and anxiety at bay. The soil contains microbes, also known as “outdoorphins”, that work as natural antidepressants. They boost your mood by releasing cytokines, encouraging your brain to produce more serotonin. It’s one of the reasons why a walk in the park can effectively improve your mood.
Plants Improve the Air Quality
Did you know indoor air can be more polluted than outdoors? Some of the most common air pollutants found indoors include mould, asbestos, radon, formaldehyde, benzene and carbon monoxide. Prolonged exposure to these pollutants can cause dry eyes, headaches or even serious ailments like asthma. Good thing some plants like Peace Lilies and English Ivy can filter out most of these fine toxic particles by absorbing these pollutants through their roots and leaves. Separate research also highlights that rooms with houseplants contain up to 60% less airborne moulds and bacteria than rooms without any greenery.
Plants in the Bedroom Help You Sleep
Are you struggling with insomnia or feeling unsettled at night? How about a few potted plants on your bedside to aid in a night of restful sleep. Plants can help you get a sleep-conducive space in several ways. For example, they can improve your bedroom’s air quality, promote relaxation, and increase humidity to help you breathe better while sleeping. Certain plants also have extra sleep-inducing benefits. The Valerian plant, for example, improves sleep quality and is a popular herbal remedy for insomnia. Lavender’s scent is famous as a calming aid to help you fall asleep. An indoor plant not only looks beautiful on your nightstand but helps you get quality sleep too.
Plants Enhance Concentration & Memory
Whether at home or the office, plants can help you concentrate on your tasks. One study shows that being around plants increases memory retention by 20%, while separate studies highlight indoor plants improve concentration, productivity and wellbeing by 47%. Being surrounded by greenery stimulates your mind and senses, improving mental cognition and performance. As a result, work performance is of a higher quality when workers spend time with plants. Aside from these studies, several more studies have found that plants increase productivity, creativity and problem-solving skills. Even a tiny single potted plant on a desk has been shown to increase focus on the task at hand. It can even decrease employee absences too.
Plants Promote Healing
There’s a reason why we bring flowers to someone in the hospital. Being surrounded by plants helps you heal faster from injuries. Research shows that recovering patients from surgery have improved health outcomes and a reduced recovery period when close to indoor plants. They’re essentially non-invasive and affordable supplementary treatments for surgical patients. Some plants even have healing properties that can treat minor injuries. Aloe Vera, for instance, is fantastic for the skin and a popular first-aid option for cuts, burns, and rashes. Another example is the Calendula flower or Marigold, famous for treating skin conditions, healing wounds and soothing insect bites.
Improve Your Wellbeing With Well-Placed Plants Today
Indoor plants are more than just for display in your home or office. They have remarkable properties that improve our wellbeing. For the small price of a little TLC, these plants can relieve stress, boost productivity and creativity, promote recovery, and much more. What else can you ask for?
Before you shop for your plants though, it’s crucial to remember that some plants are toxic to people and children, so choose carefully if you have children or pets. In addition, if you have allergies or asthma, some plants can also aggravate your condition. Researching houseplants before shopping will not only help you avoid species that are toxic for you, but it will also help you discover plants that have properties that are beneficial for you.