What we See and Touch

It probably won’t surprise you at all to know that touching soft things, such like the flannels that baby pyjamas are made of, is relaxing.  If you want to banish the stress demons, make sure there’s nothing around you that is scratchy, itchy, or otherwise irritating to touch.

Similarly unsurprising:  in a space where we’ll relax all our joints and muscles will be comfortable, ergonomics will prevail.

Most of us are more significantly influencing emotionally by what we see than by information that we receive through any other sensory channel—in the psych biz this is known as being “visually dominant,” so we’ve saved some of the most powerful ways to keep stress at bay until now.

• Natural light has a sort of magical power over humans.It can improve our mood and help us feel calmer and more relaxed in a remarkably short period of time.  Keep your drapes open as far as possible during daylight hours.  Glare will add to your stress levels, however, so use shiny surfaces in daylit areas with care.  Positioning screens (laptops, TVs, etc.) perpendicular to windows can help them from becoming glare-y.
• Warmer, dimmer light, particularly if it comes from table top or floor lamps, is relaxing for us to experience while cooler, brighter light, particularly if it comes from overhead fixtures energizes us. Putting different sorts of bulbs in different sockets allows you “turn on” what’s best for whatever you’re up to at any time.  Bulb’s packages will let you know if they supply warm or cool light.
• The sorts of colours that are relaxing for us to look at not very saturated and relatively light, for example a sage green with lots and lots of white mixed into it, is relaxing to view.
  

  Sage Green is an excellent colour for helping you stay calm and focussed too.

• Pairing colours near each other on the colour wheel creates a more relaxing ambiance.  There is evidence indicating that warmer coloured spaces at home seem more relaxing to us than cooler coloured ones.   Do your best to never use any red in a space where you’d like to relax.  Red is a primordial signal to us that we need to be on alert, the something dangerous is afoot, and we can’t ignore the message we receive when see red.
• When we see curving lines our minds instantly think “comfortable, relaxed” while when we see straight ones what comes to mind is “functionality, efficiency.”Try to work lots of curving lines into spaces for de-frazzling, but, inevitably, few straight ones will remain.  “Lines” here can be two dimensional—in patterns in wall treatments or upholstery or rugs (think organic sorts of shapes), for example—or three dimensional—in the shapes of arms on sofas (whether they seem to gently curve over, for example) or legs on tables (for instance, if they seem to gently undulate from top to bottom).
• Seeing a couple of green leafy plants, ones with gently bending stems, for example, also cuts stress levels fast while mentally refreshing us. Don’t place more than one or two plants in any room (more on visual clutter follows), and if you don’t have a green thumb, fake plants that seem real (you know you know it when you see it) work too.  While you’re adding the plants, see if you can work some nature scene art (photos, paintings) into your home as well as a subdued water feature (a tabletop fountain works well).
• Adding natural materials to a space will give you the same sorts of positives as incorporating plants. Seeing wood is particularly desirable.  You can install a hardwood floor if you don’t have one, for example, and all sorts of good things will happen in your head as you look at it, particularly stress reduction wise.  You may already have a hardwood floor, however, buried under carpets you could roll up and safely stash out of the way, for example.  If you are buying new furniture, you can opt for items with clear wood grain; warmer finishes (such as oak) work the best.
• Sitting in a seat where we feel secure (for example, one in which our backs would have been protected from long ago predators because the chair back is high) and have a view out over the world around us makes us quite comfortable and relaxed—this is why in a restaurant where people can seat themselves the first seats used are those in booths with taller separations between tables and views of the door.