Benefits of Indoor and Outdoor Plants

by | Healthy Living, Mental Health

plants

Plants and flowers make people happy. Their fantastic green foliage and assortment of bright colours and interesting shapes never fail to lift peoples moods and create a sense of calm and joy. Being around foliage triggers responses within our neural pathways that inevitably inform us that, we are happy. A simple walk around a park surrounded by nature soothes and relaxes us.

Fortunately you don’t have to go outdoors to feel calm and happy. Indoor plants do the same thing. You can opt for a large flowing palm leaves or a wall full of plants. Having them around your place of work, or play will make your experience so much better. Here is why we think indoor plants make you happy and why you should embrace them in your life.

Plants Improve the Healing Process

Plants improve our moods and increased our energy levels. Patients in hospital rooms with fresh plants or those that a have a view of a beautiful garden, often heal faster than patient who do not have these. The number of people calling in sick is also much lower for offices with plants in them.

Indoors plants have many other wonderful advantages, they beautify the room, create a soothing comfortable environment that enhances well-being. Your indoor air quality will improve producing more clean oxygen and absorbing stale air. Some of the notable health benefits of plants are:

  • they lower blood pressure
  • help to reduces stress
  • boosts immune system
  • creates a positive mood
  • improves sleep

Better Performance and More Energy

Plants have a subliminal effect which enhances our sense of vitality and improves the state of mind. Plants create a positive outlook on life and boost our feelings. Therefore making people feel more alive and active. And this works well both in the home and workplace by stimulating our minds and gives us clarity and creativity.

Plants Make You Feel More Relaxed

Humans are instinctively in tune with nature, and being around it makes us feel good. Whether we are staring at the blue sky, feeling wind on our face or smelling the fragrance of the morning dew, being immersed in nature touches us profoundly. This is called biophilia and it affects us all. 

We are very hardwired to the shapes, colours and sounds of the natural world. Therefore it only makes sense that we bring our outdoor connections indoors. So we can increase the feeling of peace and rejuvenation. For example, we can also achieve this by having pictures of nature as well as have indoor plants and water features. It will greatly minimise stress and make you feel relaxed and calm.

Enhance Concentration and Memory

Plants sharpen our concentration and focus. For instance in a controlled study, it was found that memory retention for those who were around plants increased 20% and their memory of the learning experience was more pleasant than those you were in a more sterile environment.

Our senses and our mental wellbeing improves because of the stimulating effects of nature. This improves our mental cognition and performance resulting in all round better performance in work and school. Visual accessibility to plants uplifts an otherwise stagnant environment.

Something as simple as putting a potted plant on a desk will increase focus and positive experience. 

Lowers Background Noise

Plants are great to have indoors and out in urban environments. They defuse noise and create a peaceful natural environment. Plants help to cut down the noise associated with living in an urban environment, from the sound of cars and trucks, construction sites and other noises which threaten our peace of mind and focus. These background noises hyper stimulate our minds and can lead to mental fatigue and tiredness. By having plants inside and outside we can easily reduce these negative effects of our mental health.

The leaves of plants absorb sound, as well as diffract or reflect the background noise, giving the surrounding environment a more peaceful atmosphere. Humans have used plants for generations to keep noise levels down both inside and outside our homes

On top of all this, plants purify our air, absorb toxic carbon dioxide and produce live giving oxygen. Every creature of earth relies on plants to get their nourishment, from the bacteria on the forest floors eating the dead foliage and branches that fall on the ground to us humans. Plants have been part of our lives from the very beginning of man, they have protected us, sustained us, nourished us and given us the tools we’ve needed to survive and thrive. It is only logical, and now sceptically supported, why we should make them part of our every lives and part of our environment.