Mindfulness Practices for Plant Parents

Houseplants can transform your home decor, brighten your day, and truly add life to your home. They’ve also been proven to reduce negative feelings, increase creativity, and even purify your home’s air. The wellness benefits of plants are impressive, and they’re even a great addition to your mindfulness practices. 

Mindfulness allows you to reconnect with the present moment and notice the little things that may pass by day-to-day. If you haven’t given plants a lot of attention before, you may not realize that they’re always moving. They twist to greet the sun as it passes, perk up when they’re happy and healthy, and droop when they could use a sip of water.  

Caring for plants means watching plants and learning their language, which is perfect for your daily mindfulness. Here are some ways you can enjoy your plant and benefit from its growth. 

Mindfulness Practices

Keep a Plant Journal

If you have a mini jungle in your home, you already know just how diverse plant needs can be. Some plants are happy to go weeks without water, while others thrive in controlled humidity. A plant journal is a great way to track your plant’s needs, its behavior, and its growth. When it comes to mindfulness practices, journaling is both calming and practical.

Even if you only have a few beginner plants, write down the plant’s basic care instructions and track how often you water it, what sunlight it gets, and how it reacts to its care. Care advice online is generalized and the same plant that’s in a hot and dry environment will have different needs than a plant in a cool and damp environment. 

Watch Your Plants

Even if journaling isn’t your thing, watching your plants is a great way to sit in the moment. Notice the color of your plants, count their leaves, and see if they’ve moved. You may notice your plant is getting lopsided, so you turn it to encourage its leaves to grow evenly. You may also notice it’s gotten soft and squishy at the stem and needs a break from watering. 

This time will help you learn to communicate with your plant and is another way to enjoy their beauty. Each plant has a different texture, color, movement, and even smell. Noticing and appreciating these differences is an easy way to be more mindful. 

Celebrate Growth

All plants grow. Some plants grow more quickly than others, some grow down instead of tall, some grow beautiful leaves, and others vine. When you watch your plants and care for them adequately, you’ll see amazing new growth that’s a testament to you and your plants’ well-being. 

Celebrate this growth and enjoy how each plant changes over time. Take notice of budding leaves as they unfurl, shape a plant’s vine to grow around your room, or try propagating a whole new plant from fallen leaves. 

Meditate With Your Plants

Plants can purify your air, replace negative feelings with calm, and provide an overall boost to your well-being. Placing plants in your meditation or yoga space can boost your practice with these added benefits. Take deep breaths of fresh air, notice the smell of the soil, and enjoy the presence of plants. 

Plants are amazing, living things that have the power to nourish, heal, and teach us patience. Consider what benefits plants can provide for your home and well-being to choose the right species to launch your plant parenthood journey. Enjoy the color and vibrance they add to your home and learn how you can grow together. 

Photography by Annie Spratt