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For those of us without access to outside green space, houseplants are a stylish and affordable way of getting a nature fix. Alongside looking nice, indoor plants actually have several other perks – the biggest benefit of which could be improving your mental health. And the good news is you don’t need to be a self-professed “plant parent” to experience these benefits either.

A recent review of 42 studies demonstrates that even just being in the presence of indoor plants can improve mental and physical health. These experiments compared participants doing various activities in rooms with or without plants.

The presence of plants saw better performances on cognitive tasks involving focus, sorting or memory recall, greater pain tolerance when holding hands in ice cold water, and lower levels of physiological stress.

Houseplants improve air quality, which can benefit our cognitive performance – something that is especially important for people who are inside all day.

From research on the benefits of gardening, we can assume that caring for houseplants will bring out many more emotional benefits – such as pride, social connection, satisfaction, fascination, mental resilience in times of stress, and may even help you heal from past trauma.

Each plant has different requirements, so look for plants that are suited to the conditions in your home. You may even want to find plants that actually thrive on neglect. Some of the best options for beginners are the spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum), the parlour palm (Chamaedorea elegans), and anything in the cactus and succulent families, such as the zebra cactus (Haworthia) or the jade plant (Crassula ovata).

Source: WE Forum

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/08/houseplants-nature-mental-health-greenery-cognition/

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