The Scientifically Proven Benefits of Flowers on Your Emotional Health

Proven Benefits of Flowers on Your Emotional Health

We are all looking for simple ways to offset the high-stress, fast paced world we’re living in. Our emotional state can be negatively affected when we don’t take time to look after ourselves and focus on our mental health and happiness. 

You may be surprised to learn that flowers are scientifically proven to enhance your emotional wellbeing. Flowers can elicit happy feelings, improve life satisfaction and positively influence social interactions. Rutgers University in New Jersey recently conducted a 10 month study which investigated the effect flowers have on our emotions and behaviours.

The study found:

1. Receiving flowers rapidly increased the happiness of recipients, with participants of all ages displaying genuine, enthusiastic smiles when receiving flowers. 
2. Participants displayed feelings of gratitude, pleasure, enjoyment and life satisfaction when receiving flowers. 
3. Receiving flowers had a long lasting positive effect on mood.
4. Participants reported feeling less depressed, anxious and agitated after receiving the flowers.
5. Flowers established intimate connections and encouraged contact and connection between family and friends. 

“Sending flowers to your loved ones is a perfect way to improve their mood and let them know you are thinking about them and care about them,” says Integrative Psychotherapist Natalie Wood.

“Common sense tells us that flowers make us happy,” says Dr. Haviland-Jones who conducted the study. “Now, science shows that not only do flowers make us happier than we know, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well being.”

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Meditation expert Natalie Crabtree notes that having an aesthetically pleasing environment is a huge factor in achieving a meditative or calm state. Incorporating fresh flowers into your home can have a soothing and calming effect on you and your guests and make your room more inviting, says Dr. Haviland-Jones. 

A different study found that patients who had flowers in their hospital rooms when recovering had less need for post-surgery painkillers, positive physiological responses measured by lower blood pressure and heart rate, lower pain, anxiety and fatigue ratings and more positive feelings compared to patients that did not have flowers in their room. 

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Interior designer Gary Hamer shares that there are so many reasons he uses flowers extensively in his work, including their pleasant scent, texture, appearance and colour which can all be beneficial to our mood. Flowers don’t just improve your mood, you may enjoy other benefits like improved air quality from geraniums, better sleep from lavender or a sense of calm from orchids.

Flowers are so powerful and are a perfect way to give yourself a pick me up. Whether you are buying them for yourself or sending them as gifts, you can be assured they will have a positive impact.