Wellness Wednesday emails are designed to provide you with simple tools, information, and resources to encourage positive and healthy lifestyle choices. As a proud recipient of The Healthy Arizona Worksite Award, The Be Kind People Project is committed to the health and wellness of their employees, friends, and family.
Indoor gardening is a hobby for all seasons! Not only are our potted pals aesthetically pleasing, but there is also an abundance of scientific evidence that they can increase our overall well-being.
Studies show the presence of plants relieves stress. Plants also boost creativity, productivity, and focus, as well as promote recovery. Let’s dig into more of the benefits of being a plant parent!
Plant Power!
Having real plants present in your home or office can make you feel more comfortable, soothed, and natural. Studies have demonstrated that engaging in behaviors that care for a plant (repotting, watering, etc.) lowers our stress response – heart rate and blood pressure – compared to completing a short computer-based task.
Caring for a house plant can reduce both psychological and physiological stress. It’s important to emphasize that the plant must be real; a photograph or a plastic plant will not produce the same results.
Plant-Based Therapy
Researchers have used horticultural therapy (plant care therapy) for individuals who experience symptoms of mental illness. This therapy helps increase feelings of well-being among people with depression, anxiety, dementia, and other conditions. It is so effective that medical clinics in England are now prescribing potted plants to patients with depression or anxiety symptoms. Check it out!
Plants may even help you recover from an illness, injury, or surgery faster! Research reveals that patients recovering from several kinds of surgeries needed less pain medication and had shorter hospital stays than those who were not looking at greenery during recovery periods. Although this study focuses on plants and natural scenery in a hospital setting rather than at home, its implications are still impressive. Rather than a ‘get well soon’ teddy bear, it may be more beneficial to bring in a potted recovery pal!
Plants at Work
Plants turn out to be the best cubicle-mate you’ve ever had because they can increase both your productivity and creativity!
A prominent study reported that plants placed in a windowless, college campus computer lab, yielded students that worked 12% faster and were less stressed. Other studies have demonstrated similar results for more creative word associations, fewer sick days, and increased job productivity! Check out this study on global Amazon employees’ increased job satisfaction and commitment to the organization due to the presence of plants!
Proud Plant Parent!
Science supports plant parenthood because they increase our overall well-being. Sharing your living or working space with living, “breathing” plant life can make your environment a happier, healthier place to be.
Author Note: Next time you’re at the store, I encourage you to adopt a potted friend or even plant a seedling to reap the various psychological and physiological benefits of plant presence!
Published on March, 17th, 2021
By: Ashley McCarty, School Wellness Programs & Events Intern
Questions? Comments? Want to contribute to the Wellness Wednesday Bulletin?
Send your ideas to Krysta Flores at krysta@bkpp.org.
