This blog post is all about the healing benefits of houseplants.
I literally never thought I would say this but with every year that passes, grandparents are the vibe. I find myself getting more and more interested in the things that I grew up watching my grandparents do.
My grandmother would always set the table for no reason at all and I used to think it was the dumbest thing to do. Now I realize it was just a form of creative expression.
I spent my weekend car shopping and for the very first time in my entire car-driving history have I ever considered the terms ‘safety & reliability’ and ‘gets great gas mileage’ .
I’ve also fully surrendered to the fact that I now have an entire cabinet containing pretty pink garden gloves, a watering can, pruning shears and an oversized straw sun hat.
All things I never imagined I would ever succumb to.
Enter my houseplant / gardening phase of life. . .
. . . and to be completely honest with you, I’m not sure I’ve ever been so excited about something so simple.
Now, there’s a reason I am sharing this with you, I am now a fully devoted believer that when you enrich your environment with houseplants, you take in their energy into your being. And plants are the most feminine energy beings on the planet.
Simply put, plants receive and grow. That’s it. They fully and completely receive and surrender to the watering, nourishing, love and care. Then, they grow. They thrive, they show off, they shine and then they grow some more. But their main function is receptive energy. What they give in return is in the air that they breathe and their beauty. The beauty that we so delight in, is in the color, shape, size and ability to grow. That’s it.
We women should absolutely take notes.
Once I started bringing home houseplants I noticed that the whole process of caring for my houseplants was an experience that literally shifted my own relationship with feminine energy. It’s an experience that will heal your heart if you allow it to.
5 ways to heal with house plants:
🪴 1. Heal your commitment issues by making a weekly ritual to spend quality time caring for your plants. lol. Plants are a total commitment, kind of like having a pet to be honest. It was focus and consistent care to keep your plants living and thriving. Studies have shown that routines provide structure and are linked to better mental health.
I personally have made Sunday my plant care day. Every Sunday, I have a full on morning ritual where I fully water/spray/mist/clean/dust my plants or whatever care they need. Not all plants need to be watered that regularly. As you build a connection and get to know your plants, you will learn how they like to be cared for and this fully gets you into your nurturing side. Horticultural therapy has been used by many researchers to study the effects that house plant care has on the mental wellness of their patients. It’s been proven to combat depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.
🪴 2. Heal your tendency to burn out by making a daily connection with nature by engaging with your plants. Here’s the thing about planting and gardening, you get your hands dirty with nature and that’s an incredibly grounding and calming experience. Fertilizer and water are excellent to play with when you feel a little overwhelmed by the chaos of life.
On Sundays, when I spend time with my plants, my phone is down, I’m sipping my coffee and enjoying every second of it. I’ve got my hands on the leaves clearing them of dust, I’m misting the leaves, seeing what needs to be cleaned, engaging with mother nature, feeling dirt in my nails, etc. It’s an entire EARTHING experience.
Also, when you’re watering the plants, you are instantly tuned into the frequency of calm.
LEARN HOW TO CREATE A HIGH VIBRATIONAL HOME FOR CALM
🪴 3. Speaking of calm, heal your stress by interacting with your plants. I swear, whenever I am stressed or overwhelmed, I get very present when I get into my plant care. It helps me to zone out, focus on the task at hand and breathe with the plants which feels like deep breath work. Gardening, weeding, watering plants, etc can create neurological patterns and rhythms that soothe & ease stress.
When you get into house plant care, you engage in some mental health habits like…
Surrendering to imperfections. No matter how carefully you plan and care for your houseplants, you never know what you will get.
Practicing acceptance. most of our suffering comes from our need to be in control, when we surrender we heal. Houseplants help us to surrender to the growth process.
Cultivating patience. Plants take time to grow, it just doesn’t happen overnight. As you tap into your ‘inner gardenista’ you will totally benefit from slowing down and practicing the art of patience.
🪴 4. Heal your hormones by boosting your dopamine when you see your plants are growing. Here’s the thing, when you start to see your houseplants growing new leaves and thriving, you will completely jump for joy. It is so so rewarding to see your hard work pay off and it feels so good. That boost of dopamine can get addicting too. I think thats why I now have over 10 plants in my home and counting. I have absolutely loved watching my plant babies grow.
Another thing that feels so good is connecting with my little one. He loves to name each plant, take care of and water them. I get to teach him all of these wellness habits by caring for our plants. It offers us a way to bond and connect over taking care of something else without having to bring a pet into the home. :) ( so not ready for that yet ).
🪴 5. Heal your heart chakra by connecting with and surrounding yourself with the color green. Color therapy is literally everything. The Japanese expression "shinrin-yoku" can be translated as "forest bathing," which nicely captures the experience of being immersed in green. A growing body of research has found all kinds of benefits from being in natural landscapes.
My Sunday morning plant care ritual:
nurture myself.
I love grabbing my cup of coffee and playing some relaxing jazz music in the background. I like to light up some of my favorite candles, too. I make it a whole vibe.
Sunlight.
Your plants need that bright morning light so open the curtains, pull up those blinds and allow the sunlight in.
watering.
I start by taking a look at each plant and determining if she just needs a little misting or if she needs a full bath. I have a spray can ready to go for misting and petting each and every one of my plants leaves.
POTTING + TRIMMing.
Then, I get into the actual care by repotting, trimming, propagating. All of the fun planting things. This is where I usually get the most in the zone of plant care.
I am absolutely obsessed with having green ALL throughout my home. I’ve even started to frame art work of plants and flowers just to keep the vibe going in my home decor.
You will love the way your home feels as you curate your own house plant collection. I love shopping for “outfits” for my plants aka planters. I started with a set of these 3 pink planters but my plants quickly grew out of them and into some bigger pots. Here are some of my favorites:
Also, there are several books I recommend as you start your own house plant collection:
For more habits that will help you sink into your feminine energy, listen to this episode of my podcast, Feminine & Ambitious.
