Not only do flowers in the environment keep the ecosystem alive and the bees happy, but they are exceptionally beneficial to us humans inside our homes too. It goes without saying that there was a lot of heartache and situational depression during my divorce. So, I started buying myself flowers each week and putting them in my bedroom, where I worked, slept, and ate to avoid contact with my ex. The benefits for me were helpful with some of the following:
- Improved my mood and made me smile when I walked into the room
- Self-care practice
- Higher sense of self-worth
- Reduced the stress in the household if only for brief moments
- Increased my cortisol levels
- Assisted in increasing cortisol levels for pain in my back, neck, and knees before surgery
- Gave me hope for a better future and that I was capable of caring for myself
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), flowers and pollination are essential to our environment because, “Flowering plants produce breathable oxygen by utilizing the carbon dioxide produced by plants and animals as they respire… Without them, existing populations of plants would decline, even if soil, air, nutrients, and other life-sustaining elements were available… Flowering plants help to purify water and prevent erosion through roots that holds the soil in place, and foliage that buffers the impact of rain as it falls to the earth. The water cycle depends on plants to return moisture to the atmosphere, and plants depend on pollinators to help them reproduce,”.
Flowers have an immediate impact on happiness, causing long-term positive effects on humans’ moods overall. People start to feel less depressed, anxious and agitated after receiving or buying flowers. In fact, people who had flowers in their homes for only a few days mentioned that they had a substantial reduction in stress as well as an improvement in mood.
Greenery and flowers can have a profound fundamental impact on our health, reducing stress and a greater peace of mind. Multiple studies have proven that flowers have healing effects on people who receive them as a gift or if they just have them in their homes. People who are surrounded by flowers appear to be less agitated, anxious, and depressed. They also seem to have an increased life satisfaction overall.
More benefits of flowers on our health:
- Heal the common cold
- Flowers aid relaxation
- Flowers increase energy
- A good night’s sleep
- Boosts in creativity
- Increased productivity
- Higher tolerance to pain
- Boosts good health
- Improves the sometimes short attention span
In classrooms with flowers and plants, students had an even bigger attendance span, showing more creativity, free-thinking skills, and plain overall satisfaction.
Additionally, patients in hospital rooms decorated with flowers and potted plants need less postoperative pain medication, have lower systolic blood pressure and pulse rates, are less anxious and tired, and generally are in a more positive psychological state than patients in rooms without flowers. Hence, the reason for that gift shop in the hospital. So, remember to grab some flowers for a loved one next time!
How do flowers affect humans?
When my home is filled with blooms of flowers and greenery, it keeps my mind distracted from the typical stressors of life. For example, in my bedroom, I have a big window with a multilevel plant stand with many green plants, a purple plant, a light-green and white plant, and a shelf with rotating fresh multi-colored flowers from my local market. With the window as the backdrop, I have hanging, twinkle curtain lights, dimly lit in the evening hours, gently casting light upon the plants and flowers.
It’s so lovely to wake up to a soothing, cheerful view each morning or how they assist in getting me relaxed at night before I go to sleep. For this purpose, experts suggest choosing flowers like Lavender, Jasmine, or Gardenia as their specific scents have a relaxing as well as a sedative power to help with sleep.
Flower Therapy, discovered around 1930 by an English physician named Edward Bach. Dr. Bach, a renowned immunologist and bacteriologist of his time and said to be gifted with extraordinary intuition, began to realize that the patient’s emotional state was critical for recovery.
So he developed a method of natural healing in which he used flowers of wild plants and trees to equilibrate and harmonize negative emotional states that human beings seem always to have lurking around: fear, loneliness, anguish, anxiety, depression, fault, etc.
It is suggested that flower therapy stirs an awakening in us of positive emotions, encoded innately, to find the psycho-emotional balance necessary.
From a flower essence expert’s perspective, they cite the following, “Bach was a visionary healer who recognized the soul-spiritual dimensions of healing, decades before this awareness gained public acceptance. Bach was trained in conventional medicine, but knew that the physical symptoms he treated were intimately related to the emotional and mental conditions of his patients.
He sought a natural, non-toxic method of addressing inner levels of human experience. Although widely recognized as an outstanding bacteriologist and homeopathic medical doctor, Bach left his practice to develop a new healing modality derived from the fresh blossoms of plants. During the time the world was suffering from the Great Depression, Fascism and Nazism, Bach developed a set of 38 flower remedies which could help the human soul overcome fear, despair, and depression,”.
Wow, we could all use a little of this type of therapy in the world today.
How do flowers give us positive energy?
These positive energy plants will reduce negativity in your home and bring a sense of happiness and peace. Japanese research notes that touching plants has a calming effect. Furthermore, the following indoor plants purify the air and beautify your interior:
- Snake Plant
- Calatheas
- Jade Plant
- Golden Pothos
- Peace Lily
- Eucalyptus
- Chinese Money Plant
- Rosemary
- Aloe Vera
- Areca Palm
- Sage
- Orchid
- Jasmine
- Lucky Bamboo
Benefits of flowers in the environment
Flowers offer significant benefits both to our homes and the environment. They uplift moods, reduce stress, and promote health while supporting essential ecological functions like pollination and soil preservation. Integrating flowers is a win-win!