Plantas de Interior: Cuidar é Terapia?

In our 1st Plant People interview, we bring you Ana Manuel Mestre, also known as Almoinha, and her frenchie Yoga.

We're lucky to have them both in our community and keep learning from Ana's amazing workshops where she explains, in a simple way, how to take care of our plant buddies.

• Next one: "How to feed your plants" (14th Feb 2021). More at @_almoinha_

Who is Ana? What’s her superpower?

I have a degree in Landscape Architecture and I'm currently working as a gardening trainer for people with serious mental health issues.

I also work in the field of photography and spend a part of my time creating content for my Almoinha page, which I created to get more people to fall in love with nature as much as I did.

I believe it's not worth convincing people to be environmentally friendly if it isn't a relevant topic to them. In general, we take care of what we love so, who knows, maybe by making the world fall in love with nature we'll be more caring and protective.

When and how did plants come into your life?

I'm a daughter and granddaughter of farmers and I grew up in the countryside. Plants and nature have been in my life since the day I was born.

What do they mean to you?

Nature is my home. Bringing plants indoors is creating what my “natural habitat” is at home.

Is plant therapy a real thing?

Plants bring several benefits to people's lives. I prove this every day in the work I do with my graduates and I believe that these benefits can reach everyone, whether gardening outdoors or indoors. I could write a book on this topic... I can only say these benefits are science-backed and proven by all those who experience the power of nature in their lives!

How do plants make us more mindful?

Taking care of plants makes us more conscious that nature is a living thing, that we are part of it, that we need to protect it, that it is perfect and balanced by itself, and so are we. We need to find the best way to respect and maintain that balance.

Long story short, taking care of your plants means:

Caring for plants means loving nature, connecting, and learning from it