Learn how touching plants with bare hands can naturally lower stress levels and enhance well-being. Stress is very prevalent in today’s fast-moving world, and meditation, exercises, and therapy help to ease some of the stress, but a very simple yet most efficient method that is often overlooked is touching plants with bare hands. Contact with greenery in nature can bring about some remarkable mental as well as emotional benefits.
The Science Behind Plant Interaction
Grounding Effect
Touching bare hands to the plants increases the grounding or earthing of the body. This exercise will restore energy to the body through electron transfers with the earth and can facilitate stress reduction and the enhancement of relaxation.
Mood Improvement and Mental Clarity
It is recommended that it is the direct handling of plants that results in the release of serotonin, which is the mood-elevating hormone. It can be a calming sensory activity to touch leaves, soil, or flowers that soothes the mind, sharpens clarity, and lessens anxiety.
Physical and Emotional Benefits
Reduces Cortisol Levels
Cortisol is the body’s principal stress hormone. When this becomes elevated, it can lead to anxiety, exhaustion, and compromised sleep. Cortisol levels decrease when interacting with plants, resulting in a relaxation response that occurs naturally.
Increased Focus and Creativity
The second potential mental gain of time with plants is another enhancement in cognition. There is also research that has shown that plants increase concentration, memory, and creativity in workplaces.
Deepening an Emotional Connection
Plants react to human contact in delicate ways; taking care of plants nurtures that sense of responsibility and concern. This has therapeutic outcomes and can encourage a feeling of usefulness while it gets rid of loneliness.
How to Bake This Practice into Your Everyday Life
Gardening and housing plants
Whether it’s an addition to the garden or caring for indoor plants, a few minutes
of touching soil, leaves, or flowers will go a long way in putting someone at ease.
Nature Walks and Forest Bathing
If you don’t have any plants in your home, attempt walking in the park or woods. The same calming benefits are achieved by touching tree bark, grass, or flowers while walking.
Desk Plants for the Office
A small potted plant on one’s desk will enable one to touch its leaves
and thereby experience fleeting peace amidst the pressures of the workday.
Summary
Handling plants with bare hands is a natural, effortless, and efficient means of de-stressing. Out of this daily task, cortisol levels reduce, moods are elevated, and mental clarity increases. Whether it is through gardening, walking in nature, or houseplants, actually spending time getting in touch with plants is taking a giant leap towards a peaceful and balanced existence.
