Arranging a pot of fresh flowers in a living room or home office can help to brighten the space up. But the benefits of this practice extend well beyond aesthetics. It also tends to support your mental well-being in several key ways. Let’s take a look at a few of the most noteworthy.
Image by Christian Neff from Pixabay
Mood enhancement
Being around fresh greenery is associated fairly strongly with a good mood. If you’re in the vicinity of a pot of sweet peas in full bloom, then your body will produce two key neurotransmitters: dopamine and serotonin. Our bodies and minds are adapted to keep us in places where the plants are in good shape, since this tends to correlate with abundance and prosperity. In spaces where the plants are absent (like deserts), we’re adapted to feel stressed and restless.
Stress reduction
As well as putting us in a good mood, indoor plants can help to dissipate anxiety and tension. As we’ve noted, just being around these plants can be enough to help us deal with stress. But the practice of caring for them every day can also be enormously helpful in providing structure to the day, and an object for contemplation and focus. If daily life is stressing you out, then you might deal with it by spending some time with your houseplants.
Improved concentration and productivity
There’s also evidence to suggest that houseplants help us to drive up our focus levels, and to avoid distraction. Some studies suggest a link between plants and improved attention spans, reaction times, and even pain tolerance.
The simple presence of a houseplant can provide the eyes with a focal point, and something to contemplate during spells of deep thought. If there’s a houseplant on the desk where you do most of your work, then it’s reasonable to assume that it will help you to achieve better results.
Better sleep quality
A range of plants have been thought to contribute to superior sleep and relaxation. You might think of the fragrances you find in certain popular teas and bath products, like jasmine and chamomile. Air fresheners and incense sticks provide a popular means of getting to sleep, but the plants themselves are the ultimate means of generating a healthy sleep environment.
As well as the psychological effects, we should also note that plants have the potential to reduce VOCs and other harmful airborne compounds, which makes them a great choice for home offices.
