Growing houseplants is one of the best hobbies for stress relief — simply watering and watching your plants grow can help you forget about your daily worries. Whether you feel better because the plants are lovely to look at, help keep your air clean, or produce a soothing scent, plants that help with anxiety make an excellent addition to homes and gardens. If you’re looking to melt your stress and anxiety away, start your self-care journey by picking up a few of the following plants.
Snake plant
Breathe easy and keep headaches at bay with a snake plant! Snake plants help keep the air fresh and clean by absorbing certain toxins or compounds in the air. Besides keeping air fresh, the snake plant is also incredibly easy to maintain. Consisting of clusters of marbled “snakes,” it only needs to be watered when its soil dries out completely. It appreciates, but doesn’t necessarily always need, bright indirect light and liquid fertilizer.
Aloe vera
Prized for its anti-inflammatory properties, aloe vera is an incredibly versatile plant that can be used for everything from treating skin scrapes to cleaning toxins in the air. Keep it in the kitchen or bathroom, where most toxins are. This spiky succulent is easy to grow, and it appreciates bright light and weekly waterings. When you take cuttings, remove one leaf at a time to keep your plant looking lush and healthy.
English ivy
While you certainly don’t want to consume it, English ivy has a reputation for purifying the air — and clean air can help reduce anxiety! It’s a relatively easy plant to maintain, consisting of thick, lobed, glossy leaves that climb and trail for a gorgeous rustic look. Ivy thrives on bright light as well as slightly dry soil. As long as you have sufficient light, English ivy should be a prolific grower for you!
Lavender
Lavender is calming to look at and smell, so it’s no wonder it’s in so many stress relief products. It contains an alcohol called linalool, which gives it its anti-depressant, muscle relaxing, mood lifting, and antioxidant properties. While some claim that these properties may be the result of the placebo effect, there’s no denying that the pleasant scent of lavender is soothing. This shrubby perennial is also easy to grow, whether you keep it in a container or incorporate it into your garden landscape. It tolerates drought well and will yield vibrant blooms when you regularly feed it.
Areca palm
In addition to its foliage giving any space a tropical vibe, the areca palm is a natural air purifier. Plus, if you have pets, the areca palm is completely nontoxic, so you won’t have to worry about your dog or cat nibbling on its leaves. Areca palm care is simple and beginner friendly. As long as you give it bright indirect light and keep its soil moderately moist, the areca palm should continue to thrive under your care!
Peppermint
Peppermint is beloved for boosting calmness and alertness — studies have linked it to decreased anxiety and fatigue. It has a compound called menthol, which is often used for relaxing muscles in bath products. In addition to promoting relaxation, peppermint is also easy to grow in a kitchen garden — as long as you give it enough water, it should continue to spread out. If you grow it outside, make sure to protect it from the heat, which can easily scorch peppermint leaves.
Peace lily
Find peace with a gorgeous peace lily, which consists of dark green leaves with striking white spathes. This elegant plant is an excellent air purifier, removing many impurities that can disrupt sleep. It’s relatively easy to maintain as well — all you need to do is keep its soil adequately moist (without overwatering) and give the foliage plenty of bright indirect light.
Pothos
The pothos plant can help with filtration to purify your air. This trailing plant is also one of the easiest houseplants to maintain — you’ll enjoy the benefits of gardening without stressing over care requirements! The pothos will thrive with bright indirect light and weekly feedings during the growing season, but it will still push out leaves in low-light conditions and without fertilizer. Just make sure to water it when its soil dries out completely.
Can any plant help with anxiety?
If you’ve been digging into articles about plants as stress relief, you may have seen people discussing how any plant can have mental health benefits. This is true! While not all plants are the best at purifying air or contain special chemicals that enhance our moods, there’s anecdotal and scientific evidence to suggest that just being around plants and greenery is beneficial. Having any plant in your home can improve your mood, lower your stress, help with anxiety and depression, and even improve your quality of life.
Many gardeners have spoken about how caring for plants helped them learn to take better care of themselves. So, if none of the plants on this list appeal to you, rest easy knowing your favorite plants are already doing their best to help make your home a more relaxing place to be.
Adding greenery to your home or office can help you manage the stresses and anxieties of everyday life. Many anti-stress houseplants are also actually quite easygoing in terms of maintenance, so you can reap their anti-anxiety benefits without stressing over care requirements! From snake plants to peppermint, you’ll find plenty of easy-care plants that help reduce stress.
