This One Hack Will Unlock Your Happier Life

KEYPOINTS

• 01

  Fresh flowers at home measurably lifted mood in a Harvard study

  Mel, who calls herself 'kind of a flower freak' and keeps a cutting garden instead of a vegetable garden, cites Dr. Nancy Etcoff of Harvard Medical School and Mass General. People lived with fresh cut flowers for less than a week and were measured before and after. They reported more compassion and kindness toward others, less anxiety and worry, and fewer negative feelings.

• 02

  Flowers gave people something to look forward to and more energy

  Participants in that study said they looked forward to seeing the blooms first thing in the morning and reported a boost in energy. Mel's explanation is awe: a tulip bursting from a dried brown bulb, and the fragility of petals you could tear with one touch, soften you. She won't get out of bed for donuts or bacon, she jokes, but she will for dahlias she cut blooming in the kitchen.

• 03

  Giving flowers deepens the giver's sense of connection

  Mel cites Rutgers research finding that giving flowers made givers feel more emotionally connected to the person receiving them. She thinks of a bouquet as a living stand-in for you, and says the card gives the flowers the full meaning of what you wrote: I love you, I miss you, get better, congratulations.

• 04

  Flowers get real smiles and lead people to reach out

  According to the research Mel describes, people who receive flowers respond with a genuine smile, unlike the polite smile for wine you don't drink or a framed picture you'll never hang. Recipients reported good moods lasting for days, and people who send flowers tend to be seen as successful, caring and emotionally intelligent. The flowers also led to more contact with family and friends, which Mel says explains why you text a photo to the sender right away.

• 05

  Buying yourself flowers is evidence that you matter

  Mel dares listeners to keep fresh flowers somewhere they'll see them. A stem you give yourself, she says, is proof you're kind to yourself and believe you deserve beautiful things. She treats it as a small, concrete way to build self-worth through action, and suggests never leaving the grocery store, if your budget allows, without $5 of flowers.

• 06

  Looking closely at a flower works like a moving meditation

  You can't worry about a deadline or tear yourself down while studying the speckles inside a lily or the shading on a daffodil. Mel keeps a single cut flower in a jar by her sink so washing dishes becomes a moment of being present. The free version: stop for one minute at a neighbor's garden, a flowering tree or a restaurant's planters.

• 07

  Nature restores attention, and a little bit counts

  In a clip from an earlier episode, NYU professor Adam Alter describes attention restoration research. Natural environments draw a softer kind of attention that replenishes the energy focused work uses up, and he calls nature 'one of the best forms of medicine we have.' He values its timelessness and suggests about five minutes a day taking in even a small houseplant or a tabletop fountain if you live in a city.

• 08

  A plant on your desk may sharpen focus

  Mel cites UK research finding that plants near your workspace can boost concentration by up to 20%, partly by lowering CO2. She links it to a Harvard T.H. Chan School study across six countries (the UK, US, China, India, Mexico and Thailand) that found higher office CO2 slowed response times and hurt focus and productivity.

• 09

  Digging in soil and harvesting trigger feel-good chemistry

  Mel shares research that contact with a soil bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, triggers serotonin release, and that harvesting anything you've grown releases a little dopamine. Researchers theorize the picking reward evolved over roughly 200,000 years of hunting and gathering, which may explain pick-your-own orchards. She says the same reward process is linked to compulsive shopping, a modern 'hunt' for deals.