How Do Flowers Help Mental Health?

Flower Power: How Flowers Can Improve Your Mental Health

There’s a reason why we give each other flowers and use them to decorate for almost any and every occasion in our lives, both good and bad. Flowers just… make us happy. They make things beautiful, and they make everything feel a little more special. It’s no secret that getting a bouquet of flowers from a friend or a partner can really make you feel seen (especially if they’re your favorite kind). There was a study done on the positive emotions that flowers elicit that found that flowers have “immediate and long-term effects on emotional reactions, mood, social behaviors, and even memory for both males and females.” There was also research done that proved “Patients in hospital rooms with plants and flowers had significantly more positive physiological responses evidenced by lower systolic blood pressure, and lower ratings of pain, anxiety, and fatigue.” Flowers make us feel good. If you’ve been feeling blue, this blog post is for you. We hope there are some tips in here that help boost your mood and get you back to feeling more yourself. Let’s dive in!

Ease Anxiety: Gardening as Self-Care to Improve Mood

Have you ever heard that saying, “busy hands are happy hands?” Well, it’s true! There are so many ways to reduce anxiety by keeping your hands busy, be it knitting, drawing, cleaning, or (our favorite) gardening! Keeping a garden is a great activity to improve mood and reduce stress. It can help ease anxiety and provide tons of mental health benefits to improve your mood. Whether you have a spacious garden lush with a blossoming flower bed and delicious fruits and veggies or a small balcony with a few easy-to-grow flowers and herbs, spending time tending to your plants can be a form of self-care that allows you to connect with nature and take a break from the stress of daily life. The act of nurturing plants, working on a project, and watching them grow can be incredibly rewarding and calming. Taking the time to connect with the earth, get your hands dirty, spend a little time outside, and focus on a task helps free up your mind. When you take the time to care for your plants, you take the time to care for yourself, which is extremely important for everyone but especially for those who are struggling with their mental health. If you experience anxiety or depression, keeping a garden may be a great hobby to pick up. And the best part is, your garden will give back to you!

Use Your Senses to Improve Mental Health

Have you ever heard of the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique? It’s a wonderful exercise that helps ground you when you’re dealing with a wave of anxiety or stress.

Engaging your senses can be a really powerful way to improve your mental health, and flowers offer a multi-sensory experience that can have a profound impact. Here are some fun ways to use flowers to engage your senses and offer yourself a bit of self-care.

Sight: Visit a Florist to Boost Your Mood

If you don’t have a garden, visit a florist! Even grabbing a bouquet for yourself on your next grocery trip can really brighten your day. Take yourself on a little date, grab a coffee, and treat yourself to some fresh roses (or your favorite stem!) at your nearest local flower shop. Having a visual reminder throughout the week that you did something for yourself can give you a little joy throughout the week. Any room looks instantly brighter with a vase of flowers in it.

Sound: Spending Time in Your Garden

If you keep a garden, it’s important to take the time to reap the benefits of all of your hard work! Taking a few minutes each day to listen to the sound of leaves rustling in the wind and chirping birds can be incredibly soothing. Spending time in your backyard listening to these natural sounds can help calm your brain and relieve stress. Getting outside is always great for your mental health, even if all you’re doing is breathing deeply and taking in the sunlight. If you don’t have a garden, visit a local park or offer to help a busy friend with theirs!  

Smell: A Luxurious Bath

Give yourself a spa day and treat yourself to a luxurious bath infused with floral essential oils, such as lavender or rose, to relax your body and mind. Floral scents have long been used in aromatherapy for their calming and uplifting properties. The soothing aroma of flowers can help manage stress, relax, and improve your overall sense of well-being. If you really want to go the extra mile, set up your laptop with your favorite movie or crack open your favorite book with some soft music, light a few candles, dim the lights, and add in a bath bomb. If you have any fresh flowers, break up the petals and sprinkle them in for a little extra self-care. Warm baths are good for your cardiovascular health and inflammation, both of which can be deeply impacted by stress and depression.

Touch: Arrange a Bouquet

Remember that saying from earlier about busy hands? The act of arranging flowers can be a tactile and therapeutic experience. If you enjoy being creative, it can be really fun to put together a bouquet with flowers you’ve cut from your garden or picked up at the store The feel of the petals between your fingers, and the gentle act of arranging them into a beautiful bouquet can be calming and meditative. Create your own floral arrangement and enjoy the process of creating something beautiful that brightens your space and your mood.

Taste: Add Color to Meals

We add plants to our plates all the time, but we often forget that adding edible flowers to your meals can not only add a pop of color but also provide a boost of vitamins and nutrients. Edible flowers like nasturtiums, pansies, and violets can be a beautiful and delicious addition to salads, desserts, and drinks. Incorporating these colorful blooms into your diet can improve your mood and your health. Drying flowers and herbs and creating your own tea blends can be very soothing and reap health benefits too. Making a warm drink for yourself on hectic evenings can give you a moment of pause and ritual. You can also simply use them as a garnish or do something more impressive, like arrange a charcuterie board with a flower or two tucked in next time you have a movie night with friends.  

More Fun Ways To Bring Flowers Into Your Everyday Life

When you engage each of your senses, you’ll find so many ways to bring flowers and all of their amazing health benefits into your life. There are so many other things you can do with flowers, all of which are sure to make you smile. Try pressing your leftover flowers in books and use them in scrapbooks or frame them on textured paper to create wall art for your home. Make your own perfume oils, use fresh or dried flowers to make a wreath. Put a big bowl of water on your kitchen table and create a floating flower arrangement with tea lights. You can even have fun naturally dyeing clothing that needs a little revamp with them!

Plants = Happiness = Health

Studies have shown that having plants in your home or workspace can have a positive impact Research has shown that adding flower plants to your home or workspace can be incredibly beneficial to not only your mental but your overall health. Not only do they improve air quality by filtering out toxins, but they also create a calming environment that reduces stress and lifts your spirits, leading to a happier, healthier life.

Lift Your Mood and Uplift Others!

Incorporating flowers into your life can not only lift your mood but also uplift the spirits of those around you on an emotional level. Consider giving flowers as gifts to friends and loved ones to make their day a little brighter (which will make you feel good too).

Flowers are simple but a beautiful and impactful way to help your mental health. Whether you’re enjoying the sights and scents of flowers in a garden or adding them to your meals, incorporating flowers into your life can have a true impact on your overall health. So why wait? Start adding more flowers into your daily life today!