How to Refresh
At this time of year, when it is becoming harder and harder to find a nicely warm, sunny day to go outside for a walk, it’s important to keep in mind all of our...
Don’t forget Sensory Richness!
Way, way too often when we’re pulling a space together we think only about what it will look like when we’re done—as if we don’t have ears, nose, and skin that will be in...
Go Green and Leafy
As the days get cooler you probably survey your garden with a heavy heart. You know, like Solomon, you will have to make some difficult decisions soon. Which plants should you save from becoming...
Lighting the Day as the Day is!
Lots of us are up at all sorts of hours. Our days get turned topsy-turvy because, since we now all work all day as we can work anywhere, we get a call from a...
Older People and Biophilic Design
Biophilic design is a positive, no matter how old we are. Pandita and Choudhary reviewed previously published articles related to biophilic design in assisted living facilities. They found that “The research advocates the benefits...
Biophilic Design and Creativity
Suresh and colleagues confirm that people are more creative in biophilically designed offices: “Biophilia Index has shown a significant positive correlation and a strong predictive value for creativity of employees. . . . [data...
Nature scents?
Yildirim and colleagues gathered data in multisensory virtual reality simulations of an actual workplace: “the multisensory biophilic workplace significantly improved cognitive performance, reduced stress levels, and enhanced mood states compared to the non-biophilic one....
Forest Bathing
Szitas and colleagues confirm the value of forest bathing via a literature review, they “explored the effects of forest bathing on self-criticism, self-compassion. . . . Results showed that forest bathing is associated with...
Designing for “Personalities”
A recent article in The New York Times (Juan Ramirez, 2024, “The Broadway Actor Who Designs Dressing Rooms Inspired by Her Characters,” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/t-magazine/krysta-rodriguez-dressing-room-design.html ) focuses on dressing rooms created by an actress to reflect...
Health and Stand-biased desks
Salzar and associates report that using data collected during 10 days of use of stand-biased, sit-stand, or traditional desks they “found that workers who use stand-biased desks stood more and sat less during their...
Colours of Energy Levels
People are people and brains are brains wherever they are, so it’s no surprise that colours influence us in predictable ways no matter where we find ourselves. Colour has 3 dimensions, hue, saturation, and...
Colours for mingling!
Making mingling with others a positive experience requires a lot more than just throwing people into a room together, as anyone who’s ever done just that and watched their party fizzle can confirm. When...
Additional colour effects…
Neuroscientists have also learned that: • Lighter colours on walls make a room seem slightly larger than it actually is and darker ones slightly smaller. The same goes for light colours on ceilings and...
Designing for Family Harmony!
As Winter sets in North of the Equator (and Winter will inevitably take place south of the Equator ultimately, again, for a few more years at least, even with global warming), we spend more...
Dealing With the Stress of “Regular Life”
Whoever we are, sometimes our lives become more stressful. Whether it’s because we’re returning to our usual lives after a relaxed summer away from our usual challenges or because the weather is getting better...
How heat affects our brain….
We talk regularly about the best temperatures for our minds (about 70 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit (depending on your clothes, what you’re doing, etc.) , with 40 to 70% humidity, as reviewed here), but...
Refreshing with Natural light
Madan and teammates learned via studying previously published literature that there is “a promising level of evidence supporting the restorative [mentally refreshing] effects of daylight. . . . Results showed more beneficial effects for...
Sounds and Stress
Liu and associates studied how various sounds influence mental recovery from stress. They “compar[ed] a silent environment (control group) with three experimental groups exposed to flowing water sound, birdsong, and wind sounds. The investigation...
Unseen Forces – Part 1 – Sound
‘Tis the season for invisible forces. With Midsummer’s eve and good weather sitings of all sorts of gnomes and fairies, the unseen can be top of mind. In this issue we won’t talk about...
Work in Water
It’s wild swimming season, so lots of us are spending tons of time in water about now—but working water into our lives year-round is a very, very good idea. • Humans have a special...
Why do we need Music?
Music seems to be, literally, everywhere we go, from down into the Tube to the park to Carnegie Hall. In a recent article in The New York Times (2024, “Why Do People Make Music?...
Why Garden when you’re older?
A research team lead by Corley share that “Gardening in later life was associated with greater gain in cognitive change from age 11 to 79. . . . Higher gardening frequency was associated with...
The Bigger the Window…
Gomez-Sirvent and teammates’ conducted an intriguing study: “a virtual replica of a real conservatoire classroom was used to investigate the effect of window size and views through windows on the perception of the built...
The Biophilic Effect
Via a literature review Vitale and Bonaiuto found that accessing nature, through spending time in nature, looking at images of nature, or something else has positive repercussions: “nature exposure appears to have a positive...
A shout out for Nature!
Amy Thomas, in “Why ‘Biophilia’ Needs to be Part of Your Next Holiday” (2024, BBC Online,https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20240502-why-biophilia-needs-to-be-part-of-your-next-holiday) encourages people to improve their mental health by spending time outside—something that we talk about a lot here...
Bringing Plants inside – the benefits to help us live well.
Plants indoors and views of nature scenes outdoors are important tenets of biophilic design, as discussed in this article. A recent article on the BBC Online highlights recent design work that maximizes indoor and...
We eat healthier when we see nature… another “Biophilic” effect!
Via 5 experiments Langlois and Chandon learned that “individuals exposed to the natural environment choose healthier foods when compared to those exposed to urban environments or a control condition. Nature’s effects are observed for...
Nature connection and schooling… Biophilic Design and improved cognitive performance!
You and colleagues report, after a virtual reality-based study, that “the addition of biophilic elements in the Metaverse could benefit [young adult] students’ health due to significantly decreased perceived stress levels and increased connections...
Nature is Good for our HEALTH – it could save £108.7million!
Grellier and teammates report that “Physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of several non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Natural environments support recreational PA. . . . Population-representative data from the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural...
Can Nature Heal Inflammation?
Ong, Cintron, and Fuligni link pleasant time spent in nature to lower inflammation levels: “Leveraging survey and biomarker data from 1,244 adults (mean age = 54.50 years, range = 34–84 years) from the Midlife...
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