Your Valentines Flowers Could Save Your Life
You’re not being silly. Send those blooms.
Flowers inspire me to write.
Research and prominent historical figures say that flowers would help most of us right now.
Studies show flowers boost wellbeing
“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy to have such things about us.”
~ Iris Murdoch
While not quite mad with joy, participants of several recent studies did have strong positive responses to receiving and living with flowers:
- Flowers significantly reduced stress and boosted mood in women, men, and seniors.
- Living with flowers reduced anxiety and increased enthusiasm and compassion.
- Flowers in bedrooms and kitchens helped people feel positive in the morning and experience more energy throughout their day.
A 2008 study found that inpatients with flowers relied less on postoperative painkillers than those without flowers. They also had lower systolic blood pressure and heart rate, recorded lower ratings of pain, anxiety, and fatigue, and had more positive attitudes to their situation.
Legendary nurse Florence Nightingale knew this all along:
“I shall never forget the rapture of fever patients over a bunch of bright coloured flowers. I remember (in my own case) a nosegay of wild flowers being sent to me and from that moment recovery becoming more rapid…” (Florence Nightingale, 1860)
But are flowers dangerous right now?
Cases have been made against nature’s smile-inducers. Early this century, some hospitals banned flowers because they made extra work for nurses and were a risk for infection. Most hospitals still allow flowers.
This year Huffington Post asked epidemiologist Jim Thomas if flowers were a COVID-19 hazard. Beyond his professional…
