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Category: > Self Improvement > These 5 Indoor Plants Fight Sadness and Are Proven To Make You Happier

These 5 Indoor Plants Fight Sadness and Are Proven To Make You Happier

Mar 6, 2018 Carly Fraser Save For Later Print

Last Updated: Oct 30, 2018

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indoor plants fight sadness

We all love the aesthetic of foliage inside our homes, but what if the very plants you loved looking at, improved your health as well?

It is well known that plants have a direct influence on our well-being. After all, they do help convert carbon dioxide into clean oxygen – an incredible feat that is much needed in our heavily polluted, over-populated world.

Not so surprisingly, recent studies have suggested that indoor plants fight sadness and improve our overall well-being. This is good news, considering many of us spend over 80% of our lives indoors (especially those of us that live in colder climates in the winter!).

Why Plants Improve Mood

There are many reasons why plants might improve our mood. To make it easier, I’ll outline the reasons below:

1. Aesthetically pleasing: house plants add a nice balance of colour to just about any room. The colour green is also very calming and grounding, and is even quite stress-reducing. Flowering plants in particular have been found to significantly reduce stress levels. The natural aesthetic beauty of flowers have a soothing effect on our brain, and at the same time help lower high levels of stress and anxiety (1).

2. Need to be loved: plants need to be taken care of to grow and thrive, and the simple act of being a caretaker has a positive effect on our psyche. One study found that those who spend extended periods of time in the presence of plants tend to have better relationships with other people and therefore experience increased levels of happiness (2).

Those who spend more time around plants are more likely to help and care for others, and are more willing to reach out to their fellow humans to form stronger bonds. Caring for a living plant also gives us purpose and is rewarding – especially when you see that living thing bloom and thrive.

3. Filter polluted air: air pollutants put stress on our body and make us feel less than great about ourselves. By helping filter our airborne pollutants, plants improve indoor air quality, which is associated with improvements in physical health.

5 Indoor Plants That Fight Sadness

While any plant will help boost your mood and filter out airborne pollutants, these 5 indoor plants that fight sadness are some of the best.

1. Peace Lily

indoor plants fight sadness

Peace lilies are beautiful plants that are easy to care for and produce amazing flowers. They’re at the top of NASA’s list of beneficial greens that help detox the air of benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and ammonia. Keep this plant in a room where you spend most of your time – like the bedroom or living room – so you can benefit from its toxin-destroying powers.

Keep this plant well watered and fertilize every 6-8 weeks to encourage flowers to emerge and bloom.

2. Spider Plant

spider plant happiness

One of the most popular indoor plants, spider plants not only look great, but are especially good at absorbing mould and allergens from the air. They’re also effective at fighting pollutants like benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and xylene. For these reasons, spider plants do well just about anywhere in the house. If you have a particularly high-humidity area in the home, the plant would perform well to reduce mould growth.

Provide spider plants with well-drained soil, and bright, indirect light. Unlike most plants, spider plants prefer to dry out between waterings.

3. Philodendron

philodendron happiness
Image via Plantopedia.com

This heart-shaped plant is quite popular, given it is easy to care for and can grow decorative vines. These plants are particularly good at absorbing xylene, a chemical commonly used in wall paint and cleaning supplies. They’re also good at absorbing high levels of formaldehyde from the air (similar to peace lilies!).

This plant requires a warm spot with plenty of bright, indirect sunlight. Don’t water them too often – you’ll know when to re-water when the top layer of soil starts to dry out.

4. English Ivy

english ivy happiness

This wandering vine is not only pleasing to the eye, but it is particularly useful in eliminating airborne faecal-matter particles. It is also great for homes who house smokers, as they have the ability to soak up carcinogens from second-hand smoke.

This plant doesn’t require much maintenance, but be sure you keep it away from your cat and dog, as it is poisonous to them!

5. Boston Fern

Image via clutterandkindle / Flickr

Like the ivy, boston ferns are particularly great at filtering the air. In fact, they can remove up to 1863 toxins per hour. That’s definitely something that will help give you peace of mind. The cleaner the air is in your home, the more happier you’ll be! Indoor air pollution creates nasty symptoms that none of us have the time or patience to deal with. The better you feel physically, the better you’ll feel mentally.

This plant needs a cool place with high humidity and indirect light. If you live in a particularly dry area, make sure to provide additional humidity for them, especially in the winter.

Other Health Benefits of Indoor Plants

Based on several experimental studies, the presence of potted plants has been found to be helpful in a variety of different settings (like work, school, hospitals, etc.). Aside from improving mood, plants have also been shown to…

• Lower blood pressure (systolic)
• Improve reaction times
• Increase attentiveness
• Improve attendance (at work and school)
• Raise productivity (at work)
• Improve perceptions of the space
• Lower levels of anxiety during recovery from surgery
• Raise job satisfaction

What plants do you keep at home? Do you feel that they’re an integral part of your lives? I personally love my plants, and feel that each one has a different personality and purpose. Let my know by leaving a comment in the comments section below!

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Filed Under: Happiness, Self Improvement Tagged With: benefits of indoor plants, happiness, happy plants, indoor plants fight sadness, plants that imrpove mood

Carly Fraser

About the Author

Carly Fraser has her BSc (Hons.) Degree in Neuroscience, and is the owner and founder at Live Love Fruit. She currently lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with a determined life mission to help inspire and motivate individuals to critically think about what they put in their bodies and to find balance through nutrition and lifestyle. She has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals to re-connect with their bodies and learn self-love through proper eating habits and natural living. She loves to do yoga, dance, and immerse herself in nature.

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Comments

  1. Angekina Belvis says

    May 1, 2020 at 1:28 am

    Like your useful info that will help our daily life routine ,thank you

    Reply
  2. Sandra says

    Dec 12, 2020 at 12:18 pm

    I’ve killed nearly every peace lily that I’ve had. This last one I took down to the basement to repot but couldn’t find a pot big enough and left it in the furnace room. Two months later I realize that it’s still there and growing quite well as the 3 windows face the morning sun and it never got that cold in there. It’s been there for 2 years now and it has even flowered a time or two. I’m actually afraid to bring her up as she seems to really like it there.

    Reply

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