8 Dimensions of Wellness: Environmental Wellness

Environmental wellness is about creating surroundings that support your physical and emotional health while keeping you comfortable and safe.

Take a moment right now and look around you. What is your environment like? Do you feel relaxed, comfortable, and safe? Or chaotic, confined, and vulnerable? Our immediate surroundings can impact our emotional and physical well-being, as well as our energy level and productivity.

Here are a few practical things you can try to improve your environmental wellness: 

• The right light. Make sure that your surroundings provide the proper amount of light for the task at hand. Whether you are trying to work, sleep, or relax, think about how ambient lighting can support or impede your activities.
• Be a nature-lover. We all know that spending time outdoors can elevate our energy and happiness levels, so why not bring those benefits indoors? Incorporating a few Biophilic design elements such as plants, water features, and natural materials into your space can improve your mental health and enhance productivity.
• Improve your air. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), car exhaust, smoke from wildfires… it seems like air pollution is all around us. And constantly breathing in toxins can cause fatigue, brain fog, and long-term health problems. But for the most part, the air outside our homes is healthier than the air inside, so fresh or purified air is ideal. And don’t forget to consider the way the air smells! Noxious odors can make us feel anxious and uncomfortable, while pleasant smells can help us stay calm and focused.  (Oh, and we have a mist or two for that!)
• Keep it clean. Not to nag, but if your home or office is messy and disorganized, your thoughts and emotions might be, too. Creating systems to help keep your spaces clean and organized can go a long way to helping you find inner peace.

 
Remember that wellness isn’t a destination, but a journey. Making even a few small changes to your environment can bring more calm, more focus, and more joy into your life.

Give some of these suggestions a try and let us know how it improves your mental wellness.

Let that sh*t go,

Natalie