Bring the Outdoors Indoors!
Posted on 18th April 2024 at 15:30
Do you have plants in your house or office?
If not, why? They are so good for your mental and physical health. Not convinced? Well, let’s see if I can change your mind.
There has been a lot of research done into the benefits of having the right plants in your home or office. All have concluded that there is much to be gained. So, let’s have a look at what you could gain by bringing the right plants into your life.
Did you know that house plants improve air quality and add humidity into a room? The improvements to the air include removing a large range of toxins like benzene and formaldehyde. Often the air is more toxic inside than outside, as a range of gasses are given off by the various everyday products.
Benzene can be found in products like plastics, rubber, any petrol-based coatings, oils, inks plus any gasses that come in from outside when a door or window in open. This gas can cause a large range of symptoms from headaches and nausea to problems with your vision, dizziness and even problems with your liver or kidneys.
Formaldehyde is even worse as it is used in virtually all things we have in our home, and causes nausea, wheezing, watery eyes and more.
Our modern homes with all their sealed doors and windows only make a bad situation worse, as there is no where for the gases to go, apart from inside you, unless you have plants to filter and improve the air. If you are starting to look around at what is sitting in your home just waiting to cause you a problem here are a few more items to look at: clothing, adhesives, paint, even tap water!
To make things even worse since Covid when we spent virtually all our time indoors, many of us still work from home, so we are still being attacked by all these nasties. It is recognised that most people spend 905 of their time indoors, either at home or in an office.
A study carried out in India in 2008 chose three types of plants to use over 15 years at a business centre in New Delhi which was 20 years old and 50,000 square feet. The building had 300 people working there in and they placed over 1,200 plants there. When checked the air quality they found that I had the healthiest air indoors in the city with impressive reductions in many conditions.
The big bonus was the increase in productivity due to less days off due to sickness and people feeling better. It is the health benefits that we will look at next.
Just as we now know that getting out in nature is good for you so having plants indoors is also beneficial. They are excellent for helping to reduce stress and this helps to reduce the likelihood of suffering with stress-related illnesses like anxiety and depression. As a result, your mood is better, from a work point this means less time off sick, you work better, and this means you feel happier.
There is no doubt that getting outdoors in nature is the best way to improve your health, however the time you spend outdoors is lost when you consider how harmful your homes contents are. Therefore, it makes sense to have plants in your house and workplace to continue gaining those healing benefits. Having plants throughout your house and office will help you keep calmer, and thus reduce stress, as they trigger releases of the ‘Relax and Digest’ hormones just as the plants and trees outside do.
If you are more relaxed, calm and have less stress you are less likely to suffer from anxiety or depression. Also, tending to plants can help create clarity and focus, put things in perspective and if combined with being taught how to tap into natures benefits outside you can use those same methods indoors.
If you are an employer or in charge of staff wellness it may interest, you to know that research has shown that people working in a ‘green’ space are at least 15% more productive and less likely to take ‘duvet days’.
I have recommended ‘greening’ homes and offices to my clients for a long time, and they have seen the difference so why don’t you give it a try. Make sure you pick the right plant for the right room as some are active at the wrong times.
If you would like to find out more, please contact me, I will be delighted to help you make your life greener.
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