Plants to Support Mental Health Awareness Month

During Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s important to check in with ourselves and our loved ones to ensure everyone is doing alright and has the support they need. Professional help, communication with your loved ones, and self-care are important, but taking care of plants is another tool for your mental health toolkit! Growing plants is scientifically proven to reduce physical and mental stress and can drastically improve your quality of life. Whether you garden outdoors, take care of houseplants, or both, plants can help give your brain a rest and help you feel a little better when circumstances and mental illness symptoms are overwhelming. 

-OC Succulents - enjoying the fresh air in garden

Use Plants to Reduce Stress and Improve Mental Health

There are a few ways plants help improve mental health beyond reducing stress. Keeping plants around you can:

  • Improve your focus
  • Relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression
  • Improve air quality in your home
  • Provide aromatherapy, which is excellent for calming the mind
  • Create serotonin when you look at how your happy plants are thriving

Whether you make plant care a significant part of your routine or if you keep low-maintenance plants in your home, a little time with nature goes a long way for your overall health and wellbeing.

 

-OC SUCCULENTS - plant workshop

Gardening for Mental Relaxation

Gardening is a rewarding venture, whether you’re creating a gorgeous garden, filling your home with tropical plants, or growing enough food to fill the cellar for the winter. Regardless of the successful quest that you’ve set yourself upon, tending to plants is a form of meditation that calms both the body and mind. 

Getting your hands dirty in the soil, connecting with the earth, and tending to your growing plants pull you away from stress and help your mind relax and reset. In fact, friendly bacteria in the soil help with serotonin production, like antidepressants! Not only can you get some tactile therapy in, but your brain will get a little boost of happiness too. While you’re outdoors, you can soak up the sun, which gives your body much-needed vitamin D. 

OC Succulents - peace lily for sale

Of course, sometimes we don’t need to calm down but need to work out some frustrations and get those feelings out! A good session of “rage weeding,” tilling the garden, or other manual chores in the yard are great ways to shake any pent-up energy out of your body and get grounded again. 

Plants to Improve Mental Health

If you think plants are a great tool to help reduce stress, we have plenty of options available at OC Succulents. Here are some specific plants you can bring home or give to your loved ones to improve mental health and reduce stress. 

-houseplant jade growing indoors oc succulents

Plants for Relaxation

  • Jade Plants – An excellent choice if you would like to start a bonsai for some mental relaxation. They also purify the air and increase humidity, making your space more comfortable! 
  • Succulent Arrangements – Spending time propagating your succulents and making beautiful arrangements to give to friends and family is an excellent way to take some time to quiet your mind and also take care of your loved ones.

 

Plants That Make the Tough Times Easier

  • Sansevieria – Also known as the Snake Plant, this hardy plant cleans the air and will survive in low light. For those weeks where things get difficult, you won’t have to worry about your Snake Plant—it’s resistant to drought and is very forgiving if you need to take care of your mental health first.
  • Peace Lilies – These plants have great communication skills and will let you know when they need attention so that you don’t have to stress about whether it’s doing okay or not. If it starts to droop, just give it some water, and it’ll be good to go. Plus, it’ll clean the air, which is excellent for your overall health and wellbeing.
Hoya houseplants are one of our favorite mood-boosting plants

Aromatherapy

  • Hoya Carnosa – This gorgeous vining plant is easy to take care of and produces fragrant, beautiful flowers that will get that serotonin moving in your brain and improve your mental health. 

 

Fresh air, playing in the soil, and distraction from racing thoughts are just a few benefits of gardening for mental health. If you’d like to expand your collection and give yourself some plants to focus on, or if you’d like to gift a plant to support your loved ones during Mental Health Awareness Month, OC Succulents has a wide variety of plants for sale. Visit us today for a relaxing walk through the garden center. 

 

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