Just like certain colors can relieve stress, fragrances can also do the same. This is one of the reasons why aromatherapy is so popular. Certain scents in nature are known to instantly boost your mood, calm anxieties and make you feel at peace.
It’s easy to grow some of your own stress relieving plants right in your own garden, with fragrant herbs featuring the scents of lavender, lemon and basil.
When you get a whiff of these scents, it causes a reaction in your body to change how much of the stress hormones are released. When you breathe in plants that are known to fight stress, you not only gain a lift in your mood, but you can also experience better rest, and fewer inflammations.
When studies were conducted on how the fragrances of plants affected the body, it was shown that levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, was lowered. Some scents are more well known that others for reducing stress.
Fragrant Herbs to Grow in Your Garden To Help Relieve Stress
Lavender is perhaps the most well known herb for its relaxation qualities. This plant has beautiful mauve or blue flowers and when you inhale its heady scent, it reacts in your body by soothing you. The scent of lavender is very calming. This is one of the reasons that you’ll find lavender in many bath soaps.
The calming effect that the plant produces is so effective that it’s recommended that you keep the lavender scent in your bedroom to help you sleep.
Another scent known to reduce stress through its fragrance is lemon. A lemon fragrance is known to calm nausea, reduce anxiety and stress and enhance brain function.
Lemon trees blossom with white flowers that have an incredible lemon scent. However, depending on your gardening zone, lemon trees may be a little difficult to grow in your climate. Another way to get the calming lemon aroma in your garden is with herbs.
Lemon balm grow well in a variety of climates and blossom with white flowers as well. They easily fragrance a garden with a delightful lemon scent. Lemon thyme and lemon verbena also have a lovely lemon fragrance.
Basil is another herb you’ll want to have in your garden. Not only is it an anti-inflammatory, but it’s known for its stress relieving benefits. The compounds found in the fragrance of basil can lift your mood.
The reason that the scent of lavender, lemon and basil can reduce stress is because they work to prevent the chemical changes from taking place in the body that can trigger stress.
The main thing that all these have in common is that these scents all contain linalool. When linalool is inhaled through the aroma of the plants, it triggers the cells to stop producing a large number of stress cells.
Whenever you get stressed, your stress hormone kicks in and you end up with genes that are working overtime with a negative stress production process. The linalool calms this process, allowing the body to find the relief that you need.
Other fragrant herbs to incorporate into your stress-relieving garden include:
- Rosemary
- Mint
By incorporating some of these calming fragrant herbs into your garden, you can help relieve stress every time you brush past them or pick some to bring into the house.
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