The holiday season has come and gone, and we’ve made it to a brand new year. While some are likely quite optimistic and emboldened by their new year’s resolutions, the post-holiday season can often feel quite gloomy to many others. After all, it is cold, dark, and drab outside. Luckily, caring for houseplants can give your mental health a much-needed boost and get you through the gap between Christmas and spring. Here are four incredible benefits of indoor plants and how they can help keep your winter blues at bay.
1. Houseplants Alleviate SAD
Those struggling with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) know the toll it can take on your mental health. SAD usually reaches its peak around mid-January and directly correlates with lower exposure to sunshine and—as a result—vitamin D deficiencies. Vitamin D helps balance serotonin and melatonin levels in our body, keeping them at a comfortable level. Without enough vitamin D, our emotions, energy levels, and sleep quality can be affected.
Houseplants give us a much-needed boost of these feel-good hormones, greatly aiding those affected by SAD through the rest of the dark, cold winter. Being around lush greenery has been proven to increase our serotonin levels, the hormone that keeps stress low, while watching your plants develop new growth is always a good source of a much-needed dopamine boost!
2. Houseplants Purify Your Home’s Air
Throughout the winter, we naturally spend much more time closed-up indoors, where we’re exposed to a range of toxins at low levels from the likes of cleaning products, furniture, carpets, and building materials. This combination of confinedness and toxin exposure is incredibly detrimental to both our physical and mental health, and can make a long winter seem even longer.
This is where houseplants come in, as many have the ability to filter these harmful toxins and clean your air. Some particularly-skilled air purifiers include the peace lily, spider plant, golden pothos, and English ivy. Honorable mention goes to the snake plant, as it actually produces the most oxygen among all houseplants, even at nighttime. It’s also one of the most beginner-friendly of all houseplants, able to tolerate lower light conditions and infrequent watering.
3. Houseplant Soil Contains a Natural Antidepressant
We’re sure you experience a significant mental health boost whenever you care for your houseplants. As it turns out, there’s a very good reason why: research has shown that houseplant soil contains antidepressant microbes called Mycobacterium vaccae. These microbes boost serotonin production and can also improve cognitive function, making you more productive and focused.
Beyond plant care at home, you can also get a dose of this natural antidepressant by just visiting your local garden center. Just inhaling deeply near a mound of good dirt will fill your lungs with these wonderful little helpers and instantly lift your spirits, so shopping for houseplants is a win-win situation!
4. Houseplant Parenthood is a Fulfilling Hobby
If you’re new to plant parenthood, you might have heard from your plant-loving friends that it’s an incredibly fulfilling hobby. Houseplants bring lush greenery into an otherwise sterile or drab space, and it’s a lot of fun matching the right plant to your home’s decor and light conditions. It’s also rewarding to watch houseplants flourish under your care, happily unfurling new leaves or producing beautiful flowers. When a houseplant isn’t doing as well, nursing it back to health and watching it recover is just as satisfying and nourishing to your mental health.
Best of all, caring for houseplants introduces you to a passionate community of plant lovers, where you can swap plant cuttings, knowledge, or just enjoy the company of other like-minded people. Regardless, joining the plant community will give you a sense of social connectedness—another great mental health booster.
If you’re looking to start your New Year off with some new houseplants to boost your mental health, come visit us at Plant Perfect in Bismarck, ND! Whether you’re looking to buy your very first houseplant or add to an established collection, we’re here to help!