The Benefits of Indoor Plants

Plants (UH, YEAH) what are they good for? Absolutely everything… apparently.

During the Covid-19 pandemic and in times of lockdown, we have spent more time that ever indoors and away from nature. Even before the pandemic, those of us who live in cities are not only surrounded by significantly less nature but also a higher amount of air pollution. When we are limited to the indoors or when the outdoors is not as clean as we like, what better opportunity to bring the nature inside your home or workspace.

Plants not only look nice and offer a pop of colour to any room, but put them in a plant pot that matches your taste and you have an aesthetically pleasing ornament to look at. Aesthetics aside, plants have so many benefits to both our mental and physical health.

This blog is looking at the benefits of having indoor plants on your physical and mental health, how you can choose the best plant for you and how you can keep it alive!

The benefits of having indoor plants on your physical health

Indoor plants improve air quality by absorbing toxins, increasing humidity and producing oxygen. The fancy word for this is phytoremediation (but no one needs to know that!). Houseplants absorb toxic substances including formaldehyde, benzene and trichloroethylene. These are commonly found in manmade materials such as the furniture in our house. Simply put, plants improve the air we breath by removing the damaging chemicals we may have in our home.

They also release water vapour into the air, which increases humidity, and they reduces carbon dioxide levels in the air whilst increasing oxygen during photosynthesis.

Improved air quality and increased oxygenation has been found to positively impact our physical health, including reducing fatigue, sore throats, dry skin, respiratory problems, headaches and cold,.

On top of this, plants have been found to boost healing and pain tolerance. A study found that patients in hospital who were able to look at plants and flowers had a speedier recovery from illness, injury or surgery.

Here is NASA’s list of the top 18 plants that purify air.

The benefit of having indoor plants on your emotional health

One of the most cited benefits of indoor plants is that they improve our mood and lower anxiety and stress. Just being around plants can make people feel calm and relaxed, and when people care for plants their sympathetic nervous system becomes suppressed.

Therapy that focuses on the use of plants is called horticultural therapy. It has been around for centuries and the idea is that that caring for plants increases feelings of well-being amongst those who are depressed, anxious suffering from dementia and other conditions.

Plants also improves our performance, concentration, memory and creativity. Having plants around you can improve your attention span by up to 20% and your creativity by up to 15%. So, having plants in your living area, but especially your work space, is going to make you more productive AND happy!

Clink here for a gallery of 15 plants that help with stress, anxiety and depression.

Choosing the right plant for you and how to care for it

When you are choosing the right plant or plants for it can be equally important to consider what you don’t want from a plant. These common house plants can pose a risk to children and animals:

Amaryllis, aloe vera, azalea, chrysanthemums, cyclamen, dieffenbachia, English ivy, jade, jonquils, lilies of many varieties, mistletoe, monstera deliciosa, philodendron, poinsettias, pothos, sago palm, umbrella plant.

Make sure you research the plant you are getting to make sure it is not a risk. But realistically, most common plants are more than safe to have in your home and, as you have read above, healthy for you also!

The provided in the blog show you some great plants for improving air quality and your mental health. If you want a plant for a particular benefit it is very easy to search of this online. For example, if I googled ‘plants for improving your sleep’ this list comes up. It is really simple and easy to find what plants best for you.

When you get a plant, make sure you look up how to correctly look after it, as it can be very easy to give the plant too much or too little, water, light, humidity etc...

Here is a list of easy houseplants to maintain if you are new to houseplants.

So there you have it: the benefits of indoor plants. Good for your wellbeing in so many ways. If you haven't got a plant friend with you during lockdown I recommend investing in one!

LET'S STRIVE FOR WELLBEING