The Benefits of Plants can be closer than you think.
Mental benefits of having plants on your house are numerous and range from cleaning the air to positive mental health. Plants light up a room and bring life into what can be a lifeless living space; this can bring joy, comfort, and ease to the people living their or visiting. Here are some ways plants help you mentally.
Reduced stress
Plants bring a feeling of calmness where ever they go. This can help reduce stress lower blood pressure and put a smile on a face. A study done compared the stress level of people who were tasked to transplant a plant vs a computer task. The participants handling plants showed a drastically lower sympathetic nervous system activity. This is important as the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for your fight or flight response. For people with anxiety, this can be helpful in soothing their sensitive sympathetic nervous system activity. While this study was a good step in the right direction the study only used males and I don’t know how accurate the study can be used regards to the effects on women or people with mental illness/ physical disabilities.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4419447/ – link to the study
https://journals.ashs.org/hortsci/view/journals/hortsci/40/5/article-p1354.xml?ijkey=344f7235c750123a2dd32ee653f32f50ea8b2cfb&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha – another study called “Human Response to Window Views and Indoor Plants in the Workplace” that looks how anxiety levels were reduced for people who worked by a window and had a view of nature vs those who didn’t. I find this one interesting because in terms of school rooms, should school be constructed around having windows or just have plants in the room?
Reducing Stress also allows us to heal faster, it’s been proven that patients in hospitals heal and spend less time in the hospital when they have flowers or a window with a natural view.
Creativity
One study by the Regent’s University London, United Kingdom showed that live plants and the color green can improve creativity. In this study they gave people a visual and verbal task; and divided the people up into three groups. Group 1 was in a classroom with plants, Group 2 had no plants or views of nature but had green paper and Group 3 had no views, no plants, no green paper. The studies found that natural views, plants, and green paper all increased visual creativity.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871187115300250 -Link to study
Stay Focused And With Memory
A study by University of Michigan psychology research showed that spending time with any form of nature. House plants, outside, photos etc during any season helps improve memory and attention by 20%.
https://news.umich.edu/going-outsideeven-in-the-coldimproves-memory-attention/ -link to study
happy and mindful
This is my Pathos when I first got him
This is the same Pathos after two years of me having him
Taking care or a plant and watching them flourish under your care, fretting and waiting while it might have setbacks. Gives, a feeling of accomplishment, love, and attachment. We all have that feeling of pride when our plants grow and live, That feeling of attachment when you see a plant in the store and know that it’s calling to you. The joy of Bringing them to their new home. It only makes sense as this plant is your baby. This helps bring around more positivity, more feelings of confidence and accomplishment.
This also helps us be more mindful of the plant and that often translates into how we act with people as well. Not only that but remembering to take care of plants can help you remember to take care of you as well. It’s not easy and sometimes the best one can do is just being human but your plants are there for you even when people can be too much, plants provide companionship that just requires existing.
Plants Absorb Noise
Living in an apartment, a busy road? Place some plants near windows and/or low growing plants near the ground to reduce the noise.
