Biophilia works wonders in dealing with stress. Literally translated, biophilia means ‘love of life and living systems’ and is about the connection with nature. Since most of us live in urban environments and spend a lot of time indoors, this bond has almost been lost.
In the meantime, more and more studies have made it clear what biophilia can do for us. It has positive influences on our well-being and even performance.
Biophilia provides:
- Lower stress level
- Lower blood pressure
- Improved emotional well-being
- Less disease
- Faster healing
- Higher productivity
- Better learning capacity
Biophilic design is an innovative means of bringing nature and the connection with it back into our built environment. This includes the application of plants on, at, and in our buildings. A kind of green oasis that you experience from your home or workplace.
For these reasons, biophilic design is already widely used with positive results in the work environment, education, and health care. Many companies are now going green. They see that stress complaints are reduced, absenteeism is reduced and at the same time productivity is increased. The extra investment they make for the construction of green zones around workplaces quickly pays for itself.
But what can you do if you don’t spend your working day in a green office? How can you rekindle your biophilia?
Going for nature
One of the things you can easily do is get outside a lot, into nature. Spending time there, seeing and smelling plants, sometimes maybe even feeling when you walk barefoot through the grass. A short walk or bike ride through a forest or meadows is one of the best and cheapest ways to de-stress.
Make your outdoor literally greener
Many balconies and terraces, even gardens, are now bare and with hard surfaces. Since we don’t have enough time to garden and a large terrace is also nice when visitors come. It is certainly comfortable if there is little maintenance to be done to the outdoor space. At the same time, we also deprive ourselves of the above advantages of greenery around your home. A few plants in containers are already many times better than concrete tiles.
Make your home greener
If it is difficult to go outside a lot or just not enough to give you a relaxed feeling at home, then bring some greenery into your home. Plants in pots are an option, but we now also know hanging pots or green walls. They are therefore not only trendy and hip, but also health-promoting.