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4 Proven Ways Indoor Gardening Lifts Your Mood
Indoor gardening is enjoying a surge in popularity. As cities become increasingly crowded and outdoor space limited, smart gardens offer a stress-free way to grow plants at home. One of the biggest reasons to take up indoor gardening is that it benefits our health. Here are a few ways indoor gardening can boost your well-being today:
Plants can lower your stress levels
It’s no secret that plants can positively affect our emotions. According to papers such as this one, plants have the potential to boost to multiple areas of life including our social, physical, psychological, cognitive, environmental, and spiritual well-being. It’s also been found that plants in a hospital environment could boost the well-being of patients recovering from surgery. Furthermore, a Japanese study suggests that indoor plants have the ability to reduce office worker’s stress. It was suggested that keeping a small plant on the desk and looking at it for a few minutes could help lower stress levels. With a Smart Garden 3, Smart Garden 9, or a Smart Garden 9 Pro, you can easily grow your favourite plants on your desktop, shelf, filing cabinet or office windowsill. Click & Grow has a wide variety of decorative plants to grow in your indoor garden.
Plants can help you breathe better
Indoor air can be surprisingly toxic, especially if there’s no ventilation. Pollutants have nowhere to escape, so they’re trapped in the same space with you. If you’ve ever tried working in a room without fresh air, you’ll know it can make you feel drowsy and unable to concentrate. Synthetic furniture in your room could also be releasing harmful chemicals into the air such as formaldehyde and benzene. According to this study carried out by NASA, growing plants is a great way to help filter out such chemicals from your home. Plants are natural air filters, replacing carbon dioxide with oxygen. While you are going about your day, your plants will be performing photosynthesis, reducing VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and increasing oxygen to carbon dioxide ratios, leading to cleaner air for you to breathe.
Plants can sharpen your attention and creativity
A study put students in a classroom with either a real plant, a fake plant, a photo of a plant, or no plant at all. The findings revealed that the students who studied with real plants in the classroom showed the highest levels of attentiveness and concentration. Furthermore, research carried out at the Chelsea Flower Show suggests that office plants can boost staff well-being by up to 47%. Another study suggests that simply looking at the colour green before doing a creative task can boost your creative output. This phenomenon has been labelled the ‘green effect’. With an indoor garden, you can enjoy luscious greenery in your home or workplace.
Watching plants grow is therapeutic
Gardening is frequently used in mental health services and with good reason. For years, researchers have been demonstrating the potential links between horticulture and mental well-being. Studies such as this one suggest gardening can be an effective stress reliever, even more so than reading. Another study found that physical stress symptoms decreased in participants who took part in an indoor gardening session following a computer-related task. When you’re tending to plants, you’re practicing mindfulness and taking a break from the digital world. It’s refreshing to pause for a moment and focus on nature rather than our news feeds.
If you’re in need of a mental pick-me-up, why not try indoor gardening? It could be one of the most refreshing, relaxing hobbies you ever take up. As the American naturalist, John Burroughs, once said: “I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” No matter where we live, indoor gardens bring nature closer to us.
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