Exercise, eat healthy, get plenty of sleep. These are among the most common means of practicing self-care, even if many of us struggle to achieve them daily.
Did you know that an even easier way to boost your physical and mental health is by including flowers in your everyday life? Academic researchers have linked flowers to happiness.
“Flowers aren’t just for making emotional statements at holidays or milestone moments,” said Royer’s Flowers CEO Tom Royer. “Having them around on a regular basis improves our mental and emotional health.”
Researchers have noted that flowers can be a source of pleasure. Flowers are known to trigger the release of “happy” brain chemicals dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin.
While flowers won’t replace working out or eating well, they are beneficial to self-care.
Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey conducted a 10-month study of participants’ behavioral and emotional response to receiving flowers. Their report, “An Environmental Approach to Positive Emotion: Flowers,” found that flowers improve mood, help people make deep connections, and have an immediate positive effect on happiness.
On the heels of the Rutgers study, a researcher at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital looked at the “Home Ecology of Flowers.”
The research found that people living with flowers reported increased feelings of compassion and kindness toward others. By placing flowers in high visibility areas of their home, participants reported feeling less anxiety and worry.
Happiness at home carried over to the workplace, where the individuals were happier and felt more enthusiasm and energy.
