The Benefits of Fresh Flowers in Your Room
Hello readers! and it's our last Wednesday in this "April showers bring May flowers" month. And, here we are again talking about flowers. I must add right here that after seeing the most beautiful flower stands throughout Paris (a little over a month past), I am still working out how to bring more beauty into my home through the look and enjoyment of fresh flowers. Having fresh flowers is not only beautiful but it is one of the easiest (and least expensive) way to add color, fragrance and uplift your mood (or enhance it if you are already in a great mood). This past week I spent some time considering how flowers benefit us and this is what I have discovered:
Increase Productivity: Studies have shown that having fresh flowers in your workspace (at home or in the office) can increase productivity and concentration. So if you are a teacher, bring some flowers to set on your desk; if you travel, pick up some flowers upon your arrival to spruce up your nightstand; if you are a hairdresser, put a small vase of flowers at your work station (I bet your customers would love to enjoy them whilst the hair dye is setting).
Air Purification: Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, which can improve the air quality in your room. Chrysanthemums are ranked highest for air purification.
Aromatherapy: Fresh flowers diffuse a natural fragrance that can help reduce stress and promote relaxation. (I mentioned this in last week's blog but thought it worth a second pass).
Mood Enhancer: Flowers can positively impact your mood, reduce anxiety, and promote happiness. (not a cure-all but I can attest that I feel better emotionally being in a room with flowers). Could this be why we feel compelled to give flowers to someone in hospital? Remember that we are affected by beauty.
Boost Creativity: The sight of fresh flowers can stimulate your creativity and improve your ability to solve problems. (I wish someone would have thought of this when I was in school...Could I have been a better Math student? I guess I'll never know...)
Finding ways to live better, enjoy life even when it's all topsy turvy is something I work at all the time. These benefits really resonate with me because I want to live a live of fullness and contentment regardless of what is happening outside my four walls. So incorporating small infusions of flowers knowing it will improve my own well being is a quick and easy win. This is just one little investment that can affect the trajectory of a day that may even go south by noon. I am not suggesting that if you buy some flowers, your troubles, and what ails you, will lift and float away. Rather, it is small gestures (or that thing I like to call "self care") that can elevate your mood because your surroundings have a focal point; a colorful and living thing to look at. Your eyes register the "event" as the color receptors in the cones of your eyes perceive color (60% pick up the color red; 30% pick up the color green and 10% pick up the color blue). And, it's a little deep for this post, but studies have shown that humans are affected emotionally by color. Our brain triggers joyful and happy emotions, especially with the color yellow. Blue has a tendency to calm us and red can create feelings of excitement. Is is any wonder that knowing we are affected by color, thus making us affected by flowers. And, all in the best ways.
For this post I wanted to pick up where we were last week with flowers. I hope you found this follow-up encouraging and that you will offer yourself a little bit of beauty this week. Our local grocery store just got a huge shipment of fresh flowers and this weekend I think I will "restock" and refresh a small arrangement I put together last week. I am waiting for my little granddaughters to bury the two lily plants I got for Easter. It rained this morning so we had to postpone the plantings.
Have a wonderful week and I hope to give you some goodness in a post next week... Jeanine