Improve Your Mental & Physical Health by Simply Adding Houseplants
Plants are very important. News flash: plants are imperative to our survival. Think about it: food, construction materials, medicine, oh and that whole the process of taking carbon dioxide and transforming it into clean oxygen. It will come as no surprise then, recent studies highlight that indoor plants have a direct impact on our mental health.
There are numerous reasons why indoor plants might improve our mental health, and the most obvious is they’re preferred to smell and look at. Wallpaper and carpet have a hard time competing with living things and active colors. 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 healthy and the positive psychological effect it had in the houseplant's caretaker. The researched showed, those who have extended periods of time with plants tend to have stronger relationships with other people and accordingly experience higher levels of happiness.
Fact: Plants Help People
Additional research found that flowering plants provide increased levels of happiness and therefore, placing flowering plants around the home and ay work has the potential to significantly minimize stress levels. Science is science. Studies have shown that people who spend more time around plants are significantly more likely to offer help to others, and often have more advanced social relationships. It makes sense, people who care for houseplants are more likely to care for others, reaching out to their peers and building mutual bonds out of their shared interests.
Plants Reduce Stress
Natural aesthetic beauty can have a calming effect, and having ornamental plants around the family home is an excellent way to decrease stress and anxiety. As a result of the increased happiness derived from a home that has plants in it, the likeliness of suffering from stress-caused depression is lessened as well. The research supports that by having houseplants, you improve your mental health by producing peace and open spaces to your brain.
Plants Help You Remember Your Honey To-Do List
Keeping ornamental houseplants in the office increases memory retention and concentration. How? Natural environments, and the calming influence created by them, increases a person’s ability to focus on the task at hand. Being outside or being under the influence of plants in your house can improve memory retention as much as twenty percent, a recent University of Michigan research project showed (Sewach).
Convinced yet? Great. Here are two examples of ideas for great houseplants to have in your apartment:
Spider Plant
One of the most popular indoor botanicals is the spider plant, and your kids are going to like them because , spider plant. Best. name. ever. They’re extremely easy to maintain, and spider plants are very good at absorbing mold and allergens from the air and are great options to use in areas that are prone to dampness: laundry room, downstairs, and bathrooms. Spider plants are fairly low maintenance, too. Provide them with bright, indirect light and they will flourish. Water the houseplant well but do not water it too much to the point of it becoming soggy, which can lead to root rot. In fact, spider plants are okay to dry out a bit between waterings.
Snake Plant
A study of CO2 conversion in plants by Harvard University observed that the snake plant is one of the greatest oxygen-producing plants. For those interested, ficus and pothos are other plants included on the list. One of the greatest snake plant health benefits is it can make small contribution to eliminate toxic air pollutants. It can do more than absorb CO too, snake plant's can absorb benzene, formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene; all of which are cancer-causing pollutants. Snake plants are some of the most tolerant plants out there as snake plants can live-through weeks of neglect without losing neither shape nor healthy and vibrant look. It can thrive in environments with limited light and water.
See any similarities with our two houseplants? If you have kids, we’re hoping it will help it easier to get them excited! Who gets Spider and who gets Snake?