10 Quick Little Ways to Lower Stress Through Plants
In my article about why plants make us happier, I talked about how we’re innately connected to them through our evolutionary history as well as physiological make up. But though our minds and bodies work in concert with plants, we often forget about how powerful they are in lowering our stress. We get busy indoors with stuff we have to do! So if we remind ourselves to engage with the green world on a daily basis, we’ll gain the benefits of calming our nervous system, restoring our attention, and literally…
#15 One More Lovely Fractal Pattern Leaf For You
Yesterday, in writing about why playing with plants makes us happy, I came across this lovely fractal pattern leaf. So for today’s Daily Stress ReLeaf, I thought I’d do a short post and share it. You may have learned from a previous post about why gazing at these fractal images is so healing for souls. To refresh your memory, their natural patterns fit with the way our eyes naturally scan images, making for a congruent experience that relaxes us. After all of these years as a gardener, it’s still hard…
#6 A Ridiculously Easy Way to Relax With Trees
So yesterday I talked about looking at plant photos as a way to relax. Today, I’m going to offer an easy way to relax with trees. First, we need to refer back to the benefits of looking at fractal patterns, which I explored the other day. These are the patterns that our eyes are naturally in sync with, where a simple design repeats itself over and over to form a complex whole. That complex whole can exist in several ways in nature. One of the most common is in tree…
#5 Frazzled? Look at These 3 Relaxing Plant Images
Yesterday, I talked about fractal patterns and how they can reduce stress. Today, I want to share a few of those relaxing plant images. We know from research that constantly switching our attention back and forth, which we usually do during stressful times, creates mental exhaustion. So if you can allow yourself to sit and gaze at a fractal pattern, you’ll refuel your brain’s tank. The hardest part is switching your attention away from the worrisome task at hand. And the more stressed you are, the harder it is. I…
