For most of us, stress is inevitable. Stress is a behavioural adjustment to change and we need a little bit of stress in our lives. Stress gives us an adrenaline boost and acts as a source of motivation. However, when stress mounts to the extent that we feel overwhelmed by our daily routines, this is where we need to take action to reduce it.
You may be reading this worrying that you have no time to learn about psychological and behavioural techniques to combat stress. Well, fear not. We’ve found a solution that is quick and effective, and can improve your health in various ways!
Plants in your home and work space have been proven by endless studies to be highly effective for improving mood. Studies also show that plants are good for our general health.
Plants, you say?
It has been known for a while now that having plants around can help to tackle stress, depression and other negative emotions. Many businesses are actually encouraged to add plants to their office environments. This is in order to help their staff deal with large workloads and to combat feelings of stress.
Alongside stress, plants can help to improve creativity. This is a byproduct of increased restfulness. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that when we’re more relaxed, we are at our most creative state of mind. We lose the ‘tunnel vision’ that rises through stress and focus. Instead, we become forward-thinking by exploring different solutions and opportunities.
Where does this all come from, you ask?
This effect goes way back to the days in the wild when we needed to seek vegetation in order to stay alive. Instinctively, seeing large patches of green would have meant that we had found areas rich in natural resources, including: food, shelter, hydration and nourishment.
Hundreds of years on, it would appear that we still have a similar response when we see plants, or even the colour green! Our bodies still respond by activating our ‘rest and digest’ state via the parasympathetic nervous system. In simple terms, our heart rates slow down and we become more relaxed!
Plants can also help t
o boost our general health by cleaning the air and increasing oxygen. Again, countless studies have supported this idea. We suggest that you keep some plants in your home or workspace to not only reduce stress levels but to improve air quality and your health also.
At Birmingham Counselling Services we practice what we preach, take a look at one of our counselling rooms in the ‘About Us’ page!
Edited by Samantha Turner