5 Ways Plants Can Improve Your Health and Well-Being

Have you ever noticed the way you feel when you’re around nature? More specifically, how you feel when you are near gardens, green plants, trees, open fields, or even parks for that matter. Research shows that living in or near green spaces, and spending as much time as possible in natural settings and cultivated gardens, can improve mood, reduce the negative effects of stress, encourage physical activity, and provide other positive behaviors in people of all ages. 

Thanks to COVID-19, many people have become plant parents and romanticized living a quaint life in harmony with nature, wildflowers, and community gardens. 

Now, more than ever, it’s important that we all prioritize our mental health. We must take extra steps to practice self-care and consider the wellbeing of our loved ones. 

Plants can help. 

Here are five major health benefits of plants to spaces around your home.

Plants can lower anxiety and reduce stress levels. Spending time in natural settings helps speed up recovery from mental fatigue, slow down heart rate, reduce high blood pressure, and lower anxiety. There’s also a bacterium in plant soil (Mycobacterium vaccae) that triggers the release of serotonin, which lifts mood and reduces anxiety.

Being around flowers can generate happiness. Plants engage the senses, especially touch, sight, and smell. Having flowers around your home can make you feel happier, less stressed, and more relaxed.

Plants can help improve your relationships with others. People who care for nature are more likely to care for others, reaching out to peers and forming shared bonds from common interests. Extended exposure to nature and wildlife increases people’s compassion for each other because it increases people’s compassion for the environment in which they live.

Therapeutic effects through gardening. There is increasing evidence that gardening provides substantial human health benefits. It is increasingly recognized that regular contact with nature can promote human health and be used as a form of preventive medicine. Gardening can reduce depression, anxiety symptoms, stress, mood disturbance, and BMI.

Indoor plants can make you more productive and boost your creativity. The calming influence of natural environments is conducive to positive work environments by increasing a person’s ability to concentrate on the task at hand. The next time you need a brain break, try interacting with nature to recharge your creative mind.

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It’s no secret that nature can improve our health and wellbeing, but now the research supports the claim that spending more time with nature gives us greater feelings of positivity, joy and hopefulness, comfort and relaxation, and overall happiness and satisfaction with life. 

As you look forward to improving the quality of your green space, feel free to contact me to see how we can work together in beautifying your landscape that brings peace and joy to your life!