How Plants Can Enhance Your Mood & Emotions 🌿💚

Dan
Oct 28, 2024
5 min read

Plants do so much more than just brighten up a room—they can also boost your mood, reduce stress, and promote a sense of calm and well-being. Research shows that simply being around greenery can positively influence our emotions, help us feel more connected, and even improve focus and productivity. Here’s how plants can enhance your mood and shift the energy in your space, plus some tips on choosing the right plants to support your mental and emotional wellness.

1. Reducing Stress and Promoting Calm

The soothing presence of plants is a natural stress reliever. Studies have shown that tending to plants can reduce cortisol (the stress hormone) levels, helping us feel more at ease and connected.

How It Works: Caring for plants, like watering and pruning, promotes mindfulness and encourages us to focus on something peaceful and calming.
Best Plants for Calm: Look for soft, lush plants like ferns, peace lilies, or calatheas. Lavender, with its relaxing fragrance, is also known to reduce stress and tension.

Tip: Create a “calm corner” with a few soothing plants in a quiet part of your home where you can unwind and recharge.

2. Boosting Happiness and Positivity

Greenery can have a refreshing effect on your mood. Studies show that being around plants can elevate feelings of joy and happiness, thanks to their natural beauty and life-giving energy.

How It Works: The colour green is associated with renewal and balance, helping create a refreshing environment that lifts the spirit.
Best Plants for a Happiness Boost: Brighten up your space with colourful, flowering plants like African violets, orchids, or bromeliads. Vibrant greenery like pothos or monstera also adds a cheerful touch.

Tip: Place mood-lifting plants in high-traffic areas, like the kitchen or living room, where you’ll see them often and get a frequent happiness boost.

3. Enhancing Focus and Productivity

Plants can improve concentration and mental clarity, making them ideal companions for workspaces. Studies show that plants can boost cognitive function, improve focus, and even reduce mental fatigue.

How It Works: Plants increase oxygen levels and remove airborne toxins, which can help create a fresh, clean environment for clear thinking.
Best Plants for Focus: Choose air-purifying plants like snake plants, ZZ plants, and rubber plants. Herbs like rosemary and mint are also known to sharpen the mind and boost memory.

Tip: Add a few small plants to your desk or workspace to enhance productivity, reduce stress, and stay focused during the workday.

4. Encouraging a Sense of Connection and Nurturing

Caring for plants can foster a deep sense of connection and responsibility, reminding us to slow down and nurture something outside ourselves. Plants can also ease feelings of loneliness by adding life and companionship to our space.

How It Works: Regularly tending to plants instills a sense of purpose, creating a rewarding and fulfilling relationship.
Best Plants for Connection: Choose plants that require a bit more attention, like ferns, orchids, or trailing plants like string of pearls, which benefit from gentle, ongoing care.

Tip: Give each plant a “home” in your space where you can engage with it daily. Naming your plants can add a layer of fun and connection to your plant-parent journey.

5. Balancing Energy and Creating Harmony

Plants can help create harmony and balance in your home by grounding energy and promoting a sense of flow. According to feng shui, certain plants are thought to attract positive energy, clear negative vibes, and create a balanced environment.

How It Works: Plants release oxygen, increasing air quality and purifying the energy in a space. The act of arranging plants to balance and fill a room also promotes harmony.
Best Plants for Harmony: Bamboo and jade plants are known for attracting positive energy, while plants like aloe vera are believed to ward off negative vibes.

Tip: Place harmony-promoting plants in common areas to encourage a calm, balanced atmosphere for all household members.

6. Elevating Creativity and Inspiration

Plants with unique forms and textures can inspire creativity and bring a fresh, dynamic vibe to a space. Certain plants, particularly those with interesting shapes and patterns, can spark the imagination and add artistic energy.

How It Works: Surrounding yourself with diverse and vibrant plants can stimulate curiosity and inspire new ideas.
Best Plants for Creativity: Try unusual varieties like Alocasia (with its bold, arrow-shaped leaves), Monstera (with iconic cut-outs), or colourful plants like calatheas and nerve plants.

Tip: Place creativity-boosting plants in your workspace or art studio, where you can glance at them for a quick burst of inspiration.

7. Improving Sleep and Relaxation

Plants in the bedroom can enhance relaxation and promote better sleep. Certain plants release oxygen at night, creating a refreshing environment that promotes deeper rest.

How It Works: Many plants, like snake plants and peace lilies, continue oxygen release in the dark, helping purify bedroom air and create a calm atmosphere for rest.
Best Plants for Sleep: Consider snake plants, lavender, and aloe vera for improved air quality and relaxation.

Tip: Place a couple of sleep-promoting plants on your bedside table or in a nearby corner for fresh air and a calming effect as you wind down.

8. Bringing Joy with Seasonal Blooms and Colour

Seasonal blooms or colourful foliage plants bring a lively, joyful energy to any space. Having something new and vibrant to look forward to, like a flowering plant in spring or a bold variegated leaf, adds anticipation and freshness to daily life.

How It Works: Colourful plants or seasonal blooms add visual interest, which can energise and lift your mood, particularly during dreary seasons.
Best Plants for Seasonal Joy: Orchids, kalanchoe, and holiday cacti bloom beautifully at certain times of year, while croton or caladium add year-round pops of colour.

Tip: Rotate plants or add new varieties seasonally to keep your indoor jungle feeling fresh and exciting.

9. Supporting Mindfulness and Patience

Watching plants grow and develop teaches patience and mindfulness, encouraging you to appreciate each stage of growth and live in the moment.

How It Works: Tending to plants invites you to slow down, notice small changes, and be present—a natural way to practice mindfulness.
Best Plants for Mindfulness: Try slow-growing plants like bonsai, orchids, or succulents, which require time and attention but reward you with steady growth.

Tip: Keep a plant journal to record observations about your plants’ growth. This reflective practice helps you slow down and engage with the process of nurturing.

10. Creating a Healing and Soothing Environment

Plants have long been associated with healing and wellness. Whether it’s the calming scent of lavender or the soothing green of leafy plants, your green friends can create a healing sanctuary within your home.

How It Works: Plants filter the air, reduce noise, and create a natural oasis that’s perfect for relaxation, healing, and self-care.
Best Plants for Healing: Aloe vera (known for its healing properties), lavender (for its calming scent), and rosemary (thought to improve memory and reduce stress) are all great options.

Tip: Create a dedicated “wellness nook” with your favourite healing plants, a cozy chair, and some soft lighting for a complete relaxation zone.

Plants are much more than decor - they’re natural mood enhancers that can positively influence how we feel, think, and experience our spaces. By thoughtfully selecting plants that support your emotions and energy, you can cultivate a vibrant, inspiring, and healing indoor jungle that lifts you up every day. 🌿💚

Thanks for joining the journey with us! 🌱 Share your growth, learnings, and plant tales with us @BiobotanicAbode, and let’s keep the conversation growing