Everyone knows just how much stress can harm a person. If you’re not careful, it will slowly take over your whole body and cause you all sorts of problems including trouble sleeping, issues with your digestive health, and even constant headaches. Sadly, stress is also a very common thing that most people suffer for in today’s post-pandemic world.
This increase in stress in the general population, though, has led to an increase in awareness on the importance of self care and rest. With the right attitude and a little bit of care, you can avoid some of the most harmful effects of stress. As always, nature has the answer.
Countless flowers found all over the world are known to relieve stress in one way or another. According to several studies done on the subject, even being around nature or keeping flowers at the house helps. And after having been through a massive lockdown, it’s safe to say that people no longer underestimate the importance of being close to nature – though you might need a little help figuring out which flowers would be best for stress relief, and how. Not all of them are meant to be displayed, and you don’t want to make tea out of the wrong ones! Keep reading to find out what flowers can do for your mental health, and how.
Flowers to Display
It’s good to do your research before you go and order flowers online. This way, you will be able to make sure your flowers are getting the best care possible without being a burden to you. Picking the right flowers will also mean they add the most value to your home, which is the most important thing.
Roses
Sometimes you just need to stop and smell the roses. This beautiful flower is basically displayed, exchanged, and used anywhere flowers are needed. Be it funerals, first dates, or weddings, you’ll find a color of roses that fits the occasion.
In the same way, floral arrangements with roses of different colors in them can fit any kind of interior you want. If you don’t want to buy roses every week, you can either grow them in your back yard or get a small potted rose plant and keep it in the house – these plants are available online and in most nurseries, and are miniature versions of the classic rose bushes you’d see outdoors.
Their scent and color in the house will really help cheer you up at the end of a hard and stressful day.
Sunflowers
If you have a darker or imposing interior, add some contrast in the decor and cheer it up with some sunflowers. These large flowers don’t need to be arranged in any intricate floral arrangements, and they make quite the impression on their own.
For full effect, place a vase full of sunflowers in a central position in the room – preferably a coffee table or a dressing table.
Jasmine
Jasmine flowers are known for how delicate and aromatic they are, and their sweet scent is something hardly anyone would fail to enjoy.
While you won’t be able to find jasmine in common floral arrangements, you can definitely keep some jasmine plants indoors. These plants are best placed on table tops along the walls in your home, or in wall mounted flower pots. You can also place them on open shelves.
Orchids
Orchids are beautiful and unique flowers that are often known for their multi-colored petals. If you look into them, you will see that they come in countless shapes and sizes. Not only this, but growing orchids at home is fairly easy and indoor orchid plants can be a game changer for your home.
In addition to looking beautiful and improving the quality of your space, it will be beneficial for your mental health to take care of your orchids everyday.
Medicinal Flowers and Their Uses
To say that flowers are only good for your mental health as home decor would be a huge mistake. For centuries, flowers and different plants have been used to relieve stress and cure countless types of health issues.
Here are some plants and flowers that can help you reduce stress when ingested in teas and used as medicine.
Chamomile
The benefits of chamomile tea are no secret. When taken before bed, it has the ability to help you sleep better, deeper, and longer. Your quality of sleep can have a huge impact on the rest of your life, with sleep deprivation leaving you stressed, irritable, and unable to focus on your life.
This is why a cup of chamomile tea every night to help you sleep can be a great idea.
Peppermint
Peppermint plants contain the chemical menthol that is used to relax muscles. In addition, peppermint tea is known for it’s many health benefits – it can freshen your breath, give you energy, help with menstrual cramps, clear your sinuses, and much more.
If you don’t want to take peppermint tea, regular baths in bath water with peppermint leaves soaked inside can really help you physically relax.
Jasmine
Jasmine flowers can calm you down just with their smell, and are commonly used in calming teas and other concoctions meant to help you relax.
Lavender
Fresh lavender flowers with massage oil
Lavender essential oils are often used for treating anxiety and stress. Though this plant is known to be most effective for stress relief through aromatherapy, herbal oral supplements that contain lavender essential oils also work.
You can add lavender essential oils in your diffuser or in your bath water. If you want fast relief from pain or just want to relax, try putting some lavender oil on your body.
Other Ways to Add Nature to Your Home
If you don’t want to use flowers around the house too much, don’t worry. Countless non-flowering plants out there are just as calming to keep as most flowering plants on this list are, like aloe vera.
Keeping and maintaining any kind of indoor or outdoor plants can be good for your mental health too, and when that or decorating your home with different plants isn’t an option, you can take regular walks in nature or use nature inspired decor for the same results.
