8 plants that help you sleep better & relieve stress

We’re all looking for ways to get the best night’s sleep possible, whether that’s by investing in the best mattress or trying out strange TikTok sleep hacks. But one of the best ways to get better sleep and reduce stress is by filling your bedroom with plants.

Not only do plants bring colour and nature into your room, but they’re extremely beneficial to your mood, health and wellbeing. By replenishing the oxygen in your room and purifying the air, plants create a sense of calm which can relieve stress, boost your creativity and help you sleep better.

With all these benefits, we wouldn’t be surprised if you were running around your house and scooping up all your houseplants to place them in your bedroom. But before your bedroom resembles a jungle, here are 8 plants that can improve your sleep and relieve everyday stresses.

P.S. If you have a tendency to kill your plants, check out how to grow houseplants for tips on keeping them alive and thriving.

1. Lavender

The scent of lavender is commonly associated with sleep, calm and relaxation. Whether it’s in oil form like the best essential oils or in a plant pot, lavender has been proven to help you sleep better and nod off quicker. Lavender lowers the heart rate, temperature and blood pressure which reduces anxiety and stress levels, and has health benefits like relieving nausea, soothing menstrual cramps and beating illnesses like the common cold. You can add lavender into your bedroom in many ways, like putting a plant on the windowsill, placing a sachet of dried lavender under your pillow or by using lavender oil in the best oil diffuser.

2. Jasmine

Jasmine plants are beautiful to look at, smell sweet and are relatively low maintenance, so they’re a great houseplant to have in any room of your home. For sleep and relaxation, the scent of jasmine is associated with restful sleep and decreased feelings of anxiety. Jasmine is also said to improve your mental performance and mood, so with a jasmine plant in your room, you should be feeling more alert and refreshed when you wake up in the morning.

3. Aloe vera

As one of nature’s most healing plants, aloe vera has medicinal properties, as the gel from the leaves are used to treat cuts, burns, bites and skin problems. Aloe vera is a succulent, so it requires little watering or maintenance, so you can really place it in any room and it will be happy. What makes aloe vera a great plant for sleep is it produces and releases oxygen during the night, which improves the air in your bedroom, making it nicer to breathe while you sleep.

4. Snake plant

The snake plant or the ‘mother-in-law’s tongue’ is another brilliant plant that acts as a natural air purifier. Similar to the aloe vera plant, the snake plant is easy to take care of and releases oxygen at night which can help you sleep better. The snake plant takes this one step further by filtering air and removing toxins or harsh chemicals, like benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, trichloroethylene and xylene.

5. Peace lily

The clue is in the name but peace lilies help encourage a deeper and more peaceful night’s sleep. As an air purifying plant, it cleans the air and breaks down pollutants, while also increasing the humidity in your room. According to Airthings, low levels of humidity in your house causes dry skin and hair, and makes you more susceptible to respiratory illnesses due to the increase in germs. So, to up the level of humidity in your bedroom, a peace lily is a simple solution that also looks beautiful with its cute white flowers.

6. Valerian

Valerian is amazing for inducing sleep and improving its quality. It’s an incredibly calming plant that’s been used for years to help treat insomnia and it often features in sleep supplements. The root, flower buds and petals have been scientifically proven to relax the body and mind, and is said to help regulate feelings of anxiety by calming the nerves. While there are good and bad bedroom colours that affect sleep, the pink and white flowers from the valerian plant add a nice pop of colour into your bedroom. As valerian needs a lot of sunlight, it should be placed on your windowsill.

7. Golden Pothos

While you may not have heard of a golden pothos, you’ve probably seen it around as it’s often used in hanging baskets. It’s also known as Devil’s Ivy as it’s poisonous if you ingest it and it's almost impossible to kill. Before that puts you off, golden pothos purifies the air and removes toxins, making it easier for you to breathe while you sleep and creating a sense of calm. As they’re pretty low maintenance, a golden pothos plant can be put anywhere in a room but by a window is a good choice so it can catch pollutants before they fill the room.

8. Gardenia

Gardenia is a complicated plant, as while it can be kept inside, it can also survive outside, so people are never sure whether it’s an indoor or outdoor plant. If you choose to keep gardenias indoors, it’s a beautiful flower which promotes sleep and reduces stress. Gardenia acts as a natural sedative and many people who have anxiety or insomnia have reported feeling calmer and falling asleep better with a gardenia plant in their room. The trickiest plant to care for in this list, gardenia needs a lot of care and attention, so it’s best used by those who are experienced gardeners.