How flower arranging helped a chronic anxiety sufferer and how she helps others de-stress by holding free flower art therapy workshops in Hong Kong
- Simran Mohinani was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder aged 13. She found flower art therapy boosted her mental health and helped her feel happy
- She offers free workshops to show others its benefits, using ‘infinity roses’ – fresh blooms treated with wax – which last up to three years
General anxiety disorder, or GAD, is characterised by persistent and excessive worry. People with it may anticipate disaster or be too concerned about health, family, work, or other issues. Sound familiar?
For one Hongkonger, it was all too real. Simran Mohinani was diagnosed with GAD as a 13-year-old in 2012.
Mohinani, 23, conducts free flower art therapy workshops in Hong Kong every month, and is keen to share the benefits and the boost to mental health she has gained from this activity when it comes to dealing with her anxiety.
“Working with flowers has been therapeutic for me. I feel happy when I am surrounded by them,” she says. She has held workshops at West Kowloon Art Park and Central Market on Hong Kong Island, among other venues.
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“The workshops are fun and creative,” Hawkins, the chief operating officer of digital platform Women of Hong Kong, says. “I love meeting new people and it is a way for me to de-stress after weeks of working hard and living in the super-fast-paced city that is Hong Kong. Creating designs with their upcycled flowers to my heart’s content keeps me focused on the present.”
The “upcycled flowers” she refers to are infinity roses, which Mohinani came across while studying in Boston, in the US. They are preserved and can last up to three years.
Research underscores this special relationship between flowers and humans. Flowers evoke a multisensory experience that includes smell, texture and colour.
Cutting and arranging flowers makes us more aware of our environment, stimulates our emotions, cultivates a sense of beauty, and may improve self-perception and self-understanding.
Studies suggest that being in contact with nature supports human growth, emotionally, spiritually and aesthetically.
These are great benefits – but fresh-cut flowers quickly wither away. When Mohinani discovered infinity roses, she introduced them to Hong Kong.
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“My space at home in Hong Kong felt empty without them,” she said. When she couldn’t find reasonably priced alternatives that shipped to Hong Kong, the student of entrepreneurship and innovation started to think about setting up something herself.
“Everyone loves flowers, but no one likes throwing them away. Buying bouquets can be expensive as well. I wanted to create flowers that are sustainable, affordable and accessible.”
Mohinani launched her business, Mohlia, in August 2021 with money she had saved from her other business ventures – denim supply, consulting for young entrepreneurs and writing (she has four published short stories and poetry books, and a children’s book).
Her roses ship to 92 countries and can cost anywhere from US$10 to US$350, depending on the number of flowers and their arrangement. “I ran out of stock on the first day,” she says.
The roses are grown in Ecuador, South America, where the country’s climate and elevation creates the perfect environment for them to thrive. Once they bloom, the flowers are treated with a wax-based formula to preserve them and shipped to assembly plants in Guangdong province in China, where florists arrange them in eco-card, eco-glass or vegan leather boxes, in keeping with the company’s values of eco-friendliness and sustainability.
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“I find it refreshing and rejuvenating,” Hawkins says of the free flower therapy workshops that Mohinani hosts. “Gifting my creations to a friend or hanging one up in my own flat afterwards gives me immense satisfaction.”
