Flowers and plants make a great gift for any occasion. Come rain or shine, winter or summer, being the recipient of a little slice of nature in bloom from a high-quality florist is guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Aside from the lively colours and aromas, however, keeping flowers or plants in your house has several important health benefits. For someone who has been feeling low or depressed, the positive impact of plants and flowers can be quite profound. Read on for three miraculous mental health benefits of making your house a home to attractive flora from the natural world.
1. Flowers Can Relieve Anxiety
The pace of modern life is much quicker than it was for our forbearers. Stress and anxiety are now much more common than they were in the past. Flowers and plants artfully placed around a room have been proven to markedly reduce your stress levels. After a long day in the office, kicking and relaxing in a living room filled with greenery is the perfect way to make your anxiety melt away. If you suffer from anxiety, it can be a great idea to start your own green-fingered horticultural project by growing plants for your house. It has been suggested that something as simple as contact with the soil that you use to pot the plants can help a person to unwind.
2. Flowers Can Lift Our Mood
Flowers and indoor plants have a positive effect on our emotions. Studies have shown than actively interacting (touching, feeling and smelling) house plants and flowers releases endorphins in the brain that function as natural antidepressants. Our brains are hardwired to react positively to the colour green. The vibrant colours of a flowering plant such as crocus or orchid cause the brain to release a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which is known to be deficient in the brains of people who suffer from depression. Just by simply add some natural colours to our surroundings, we can help to lift the mood of anyone who walks into our home!
3. Flowers Can Help You Get Better Sleep
The final fantastic benefit of having plants and flowers indoors is that they can dramatically improve the quality of our sleep if they are placed on the bedside table. The calming scent of plants like lavender has long been known to induce a state of deep relaxation, helping even the most anxious sleeper to switch off and enjoy an uninterrupted night's sleep. If you are prone to insomnia, why not head down to your local florist to buy a scented plant to aid your condition?
The three mental health benefits of keeping plants and flowers are by no means the only ones. Aside from looking great, plants help to filter the air, cleaning it of illness-causing microbes. They can also help you work better by increasing your memory, focus, and productivity. If this is news to you, perhaps it is a good idea to start thinking about bringing a bit of nature into your living space.
