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Create Harmony
This is a podcast about setting an intentional rhythm, savoring life’s blessings and learning how to use our imagination as a way of listening to God. If you want to learn more about how to bring stillness and gratitude into your life you’ll probably find a lot here that you love. To find out more about what's going on in the Create Harmony world, check out www.mycreateharmony.com.
Create Harmony
Greening Your Winter: The Power of Houseplants
The simple addition of a houseplant might be the winter wellness solution you've been overlooking. This episode explores the surprising connection between indoor greenery and our mental well-being during the coldest, darkest days of the year.
We dive into the science behind why plants make such powerful allies during winter. Beyond their aesthetic appeal, houseplants actively purify our air. The research is clear – surrounding ourselves with plants reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, and increases overall feelings of well-being precisely when seasonal blues might be at their peak.
For those worried about their plant-keeping abilities, we offer practical solutions for every commitment level. From the virtually indestructible snake plant to the statement-making Monstera, there's a plant match for everyone. Not ready for a permanent green companion? We explore temporary alternatives like growing winter bulbs indoors or cultivating microgreens for both visual appeal and nutritional benefits. And for those who want the benefits without the responsibility, we suggest mindful visits to local greenhouses or garden centers – experiencing the peace of plant-filled environments without taking anything home.
As we conclude our winter well-being series, this episode reminds us that creating harmony often comes from simple additions to our environment that connect us to life and growth during seasons of apparent dormancy. Whether you become a dedicated plant parent or simply appreciate greenery from afar, incorporating some aspect of plant life into your winter routine might just be the mood-lifting practice you need. How might you invite a touch of green into your winter world?
To learn more, go to mycreateharmony.com
Welcome back to the Create Harmony podcast. So this is a place where we like to savor life's blessings. We are all about setting an intentional rhythm and learning how to use our imagination as a way of listening to God. So if you want to learn more about how to bring gratitude into your life and you like to be creative and fun, there is a lot here that you are going to love. In this place, we'll take a few minutes to celebrate everyday joys and remind ourselves how to notice goodness that is all around us. So this is episode 116, and I am your host, sally Burlington. So we are getting to the end of our winter well-being series. This is what we do every winter.
Speaker 1:Throughout this series, we've focused on so many different aspects of how to celebrate this cold, dark season. We've tried to lift our spirits a little bit in a cold, dark time of year. We've talked about hygge, we've talked about house hushing, we covered the topic of Sabbath and Selah, and we learned how to find community in new places. So this week, we are going to focus on houseplants, and you are probably thinking what do houseplants have to do with winter well-being? Well, at my house, they have a lot to do with with it, and their benefits really can't be overlooked. Not only do they add a touch of nature to your living spaces, but they also improve your air quality and they can reduce your stress, which overall enhances your well-being. So that definitely fits into winter well-being. So let's first focus on how they purify the air, so plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, and so they can make your home healthier. Did you know that certain houseplants, like the peace lily and the snake plant, can also remove toxins from the air, so that makes your home or your office, wherever you have it, a healthier place to live? Houseplants have also been shown to reduce stress and promote a sense of calm. Studies have found that being around plants can lower your blood pressure. They can reduce anxiety and also increase your feelings of well-being, and who doesn't want more of that? Just the simple act of caring for plants, such as watering or pruning that, can be a meditative and relaxing practice. So having houseplants in your workplace also boosts your concentration and productivity. Just the presence of even a little bit of greenery can enhance your cognitive function and your creativity, and it makes it easier to focus on your work tasks and get your work done more efficiently. So that's why many offices and study areas now incorporate plants into their design.
Speaker 1:It's important, however, that you choose the correct house plants. So some of you may have struggled to keep plants alive in the past and you're probably resisting this idea right now. No one wants one more thing to take care of, so it's really important to choose properly. Finding the most low maintenance option for you is the path forward here. So we already talked a little bit about the snake plant. Here I'm going to go through a few types of plants that might be a good choice and you can consider whether they fit you or not. So the snake plant is really hardy. It's low maintenance. This is a perfect option for beginners. They can tolerate low light. They really don't take a lot of water. So if you're really busy and you're getting started but you want to incorporate a house plant, this is a good choice. The tall upright leaves kind of look like snakes and they look a little bit modern. That adds a little modern touch to your room.
Speaker 1:Another choice might be the spider plant. This is the plant that's known. It has these arching leaves and it produces these little spider babies that hang down babies that hang down. This kind of plant thrives in bright light. So if you want to get a spider plant, you probably need a brighter environment. It can adapt to a range of conditions, but it also needs at least some light. One of the benefits of the spider plant it said it is an excellent air purifier, so that one. If that's a big concern for you, then try the spider plant. You might also try the Monstera. It's known as the Swiss cheese plant. It has these big, large leaves. This adds kind of a tropical vibe. It can grow pretty big, so you need to have some space for this one, but it will give you a little bit of the tropical feel. Monstera plants thrive in bright light and they do require regular watering, so you need to be able to. If you want the mindful practice of watering and taking care of a plant, this is a good choice. Another good option is pothos. It looks really fresh and green and it doesn't take a whole lot of care, so you might check that one out.
Speaker 1:Now, if you do not want to make the long-term commitment to a general house plant, to any of the ones we've already talked to, there are some other ways. I've got some other ideas on how you can incorporate some green things inside during the winter months. So for years I've grown bulbs bulbs, you know, gotten bulbs and grown them in the winter. Things like hyacinths, grape hyacinths, even little mini daffodils. These are great during this season and there's several ways you can do this. If you plan ahead, you can buy the bulbs in the fall, put them in the very back of your refrigerator. That makes them think that they're having winter and then, when it's time to get them out and get them going, you get them out in the winter.
Speaker 1:To get them out and get them going, you get them out in the winter and get them growing. So the ways you can get them growing are I've done this two different ways, so I'll give you two different ideas. You can take a container and fill it with rocks and then put the bulb on top of the rocks and then fill the container with water just up to the bottom of the bulb. If you go all the way, a little higher, it's going to cause the bulb to rot and that's not going to smell good and you're not going to have a good experience. That will not reduce your stress and your anxiety. So just go to the bottom of the bulb and then they're going to develop some roots down into those rocks and into the water and grow a plant and they'll flower beautifully and that'll be nice. It'll be fresh and green in your in your environment.
Speaker 1:If you don't want that choice, you can get those little coconut soil pods online. Those are cleaner, I mean, you can certainly go get garden soil and plant them up, but in the middle of winter a big bag of potting soil is a little messy. So you could just get those coconuts soil pods and just plant them in that and you can grow pretty much any kind of fall bulbs in that An even easier option. If this seems like too much trouble and you don't want to do all that, then you can just go to a local hardware or grocery store and just buy them already potted. This for in our region I live in North Carolina and so in our that would equate to like a Home Depot, maybe a Lowe's, a Trader Joe's Fresh Market, something like that. They're already in there and they're kind of getting ready to sprout out. You just bring them home and enjoy them, enjoy the smell, and then later you can plant them in your yard if you want to.
Speaker 1:I personally really, really love hyacinths because they smell so fabulous. So this year I also got some little tiny four inch pots of small daffodils and grape hyacinths and I kind of tucked them into. We have a planter, like a built in planter, kind of adjacent to our sunroom, so I tucked some bulbs down in there and so then the little flowers came up in, you know, within all of the other greenery, and it just gave me a little sneak peek of spring. It's been just so delightful. What a moment of joy. So you can try something like that if you want to do some bulbs.
Speaker 1:If that's not your thing, you can try growing microgreens. So we talked about this in an earlier episode. These are kind of like sprouts, but they're a little bit smaller. They're really really healthy and they're very easy to grow. The easiest way to do this is to get a kit. You can get a little. It's like a little plastic tray and it comes with a jute mat and usually you can get the seeds with it. Sometimes you have to buy the kit separately in the seeds. The types of seeds that you can grow are like radishes, beets, broccoli, arugula whatever you prefer to snack on. You take the little tray, you wet the jute mat, put the seeds on there and then they start to germinate and then you can add this to salads, to smoothies, to just as a snack. So this is a really good way to incorporate something healthy and get a little something growing in your world and lift your spirits in the winter season.
Speaker 1:Now I'm going to say if none of that sounds appealing to you in other words, if you are thinking the whole time I'm talking if you are thinking trying to keep something alive will only add stress rather than reduce it then here's what I'm going to recommend to you.
Speaker 1:I recommend that you go and find a place in the winter where plants are already growing.
Speaker 1:I went on a little field trip with myself the other week where I went and visited a local garden center that has a greenhouse and it was full of beautiful plants and it was so wonderful to just go in there and see they had some orchids blooming, they had like palm leaves, fiddle leaf, ferns, I mean, it was just so beautiful in there, and so I I didn't have to do anything, but just walk through and just enjoy and soak up the, the peaceful vibes, and then I just went home, so I didn't have to take care of anything.
Speaker 1:So try that if you don't want to do any of the other things that I suggested and that will lift your winter well-being.
Speaker 1:So for our closing today, I am going to read a poem written by Kate Bowler from her book have a Beautiful, terrible Day, and the poem is called Noticing Beauty and it goes like this it's not every day that you see it, but sometimes beauty sneaks up on you with a tenderness, a sweetness, so lovely it hurts, it sings to the heart and makes it glad that ever a baby laughed or a parent smiled at the hilarious solemnity of play.
Speaker 1:Beauty brings a kind of grief because its perfection rings so true. It calls out everything else that has ever fallen short In me, in us, in everything. But that's the thing, it's just the way of it that beauty will always be crushingly lovely. We are grass, we are fireflies, we are the day that the Lord has made. May it be so. Thanks so much for joining us today as we came to the close of our winter well-being series. Hopefully you enjoyed finding some ways to lift your spirits during the darker, shorter days of winter and hope you'll come back next week for some more discussions on joy and harmony. And until next time, peace, thank you.
