Health and well-being benefits of plants
Studies Show Houseplants Improve Your Mental Health & Wellness
Plants are extremely important. It's not new news to say plants are imperative to our survival. Think about it: food, building materials, medical efforts, oh and the most important of all, taking carbon dioxide and transforming it into clean oxygen. It's no surprise then, recent studies highlight that plants in our homes have a direct impact on our mental health & wellness.
There are a number of reasons why household plants might improve our mental health, and the general consensus is they’re better to look at and smell. A recent study further supports this notion in its report that there is a direct correlation between the amount of care required to keep a houseplant from dying and the positive psychological effect it had in the caretaker. According to the research, those who share extended periods of time with plants tend to have healthier relationships with other people and consequently experience higher levels of happiness.
Plants Help People... Help People.
Improves Relationships/Compassion. Another study found that flowering plants provide increased levels of happiness and therefore, keeping flowering houseplants around the home and in the workplace is likely to significantly reduce stress levels. Science is science. Studies have shown that people who are around more houseplants are almost always more likely to help others, and often have more active social relationships. It makes sense, people who care for nature are more likely to care for others, reaching out to their peers and forming strong bonds out of their shared interests.
More Plants, Less Stress
Houseplants Help You Remember
Keeping ornamental plants in the home improves memory retention and concentration. How? The calming influence of natural environments increases a person’s ability to concentrate on the task at hand. Going outside with nature or being under the influence of houseplants inside can improve memory retention up to twenty percent, a recent University of Michigan research project showed.
Improved Human Performance/Energy
Spending time in nature gives people an increased feeling of vitality, increasing their energy levels, and making them feel more animated. Their performance levels are, in turn, increased by this improved state of mind. Natural environments induce a positive outlook on life, making people feel more alive and active. When people experience increased vigor, they put more of themselves and their energy into their work. Plants can help people to improve their performance at work and at home by increasing their perceived vitality and giving them more feelings of added energy.
Learning
Research shows that children who spend time around plants learn better. In addition, being around natural environments improves the ability of children with Attention Deficit Disorder to focus, concentrate, and engage more with their surrounding environment. Keeping plants in a child’s learning environment enhances learning capabilities by helping them to focus and concentrate. This improves their ability to learn new things and makes it easier for them to absorb and retain information. Ornamental plants are conducive to generating a positive learning environment, reducing children’s tendency towards distraction, and helping them to be better able to concentrate on school work. Specifically for children with problems paying attention, adding plants to the classroom can have a dramatic positive effect on the way they learn. For example, children with Attention Deficit Disorder, learning in a natural environment can help them to engage more in the classroom, improving their focus and concentration on the task at hand. The soothing effects of natural aesthetic beauty help to minimize the distractions that would otherwise occupy their minds.
Therapeutic Effects of Gardening
Gardening can act as therapy for people who have undergone trauma. The act of nurturing something is a way for people to work through the issues surrounding traumatic events and improve their mental health. Gardening can have therapeutic effects on people who have undergone trauma, either mental or physical. The act of nurturing a plant can provide victims with a way to work through their issues and heal their wounds, whether they are on the surface of the skin or deeper. Cultivating plants also improves their mental states and helps to put them in a better place for recovering. Gardening is a therapeutic tool that can be used to help put people in a better psychological state during recovery and help them to work past the mental barriers that could impede their healing.
