Windows And Health: The Importance Of Natural Light For Wellbeing

We’ve talked about the benefits of natural light and how to incorporate it into your home in our previous blogs: Benefits of Natural Lighting and Bringing Natural Light Into Your Home: 2021 Natural Lighting Trends. However, as the days get shorter and seasonal depression rears its ugly head, we thought it important to dedicate a blog entirely to the impact natural light has on your wellbeing.

Here is what you need to know about why natural light is important for your wellbeing and what you can do to incorporate more natural light into your home. Let’s get into it.

Why Is Sunlight So Important For Your Health?

Sunlight plays a significant role in our overall health. There’s a saying that humans are basically giant houseplants, because without enough light, food, or water, we wilt away. Natural light affects your mood, metabolism, circadian rhythm, ability to focus, and more.

#1. Mood And Cognition

The lack of sunlight during the winter months is a significant contributor to seasonal affective disorders. Lack of natural light is why some people hate rainy, cloudy days, because then they feel glum. Studies show that office workers who are near a window are more productive, due to how sunlight improves their ability to focus and bolsters their mood. Even just going on a 20 minute walk outside during a lunch break can do wonders for your mood.

#2. Metabolism

Sunlight also affects our metabolism, with people experiencing more benefits when they get sunlight in the morning versus later on in the day. It impacts your sleep, eating patterns, energy metabolism, body temperature, and more.

#3. Circadian Rhythm

Blue light affects how awake we are, which is why it’s often said to put down the electronic devices in the hours leading up to bedtime. Sunlight helps your body know when to be awake and when to go to bed. It impacts sleep quality, memory, alertness, and more.

#4. Vitamin D

Sunlight is the best source of vitamin D. Vitamin D affects bone health, calcium absorption, cellular function, muscle function, immune system function, and more. Artificial light can’t give you vitamin D, but sunlight can. Vitamin D deficiencies can cause all sorts of health problems, as you can imagine from all it impacts.

How To Incorporate More Natural Light Into Your Routine

The above factors are but a few of the ways in which we can benefit from more natural light. With how cooped up people are nowadays, more and more feel the impact natural light and the lack of it can have on their overall wellbeing. People who work night shifts are especially familiar with missing the sun, as are those who work in buildings with no or very few windows, poor natural lighting, or those who have blinds and curtains covering up their windows more often than not.

Fortunately, there are ways you can incorporate more natural light into your life. With how windows affect how much light your place gets, there’s obviously the option of adding in more windows – but this is neither feasible nor realistic for many people. Fortunately, unless where you live or work has no or very limited windows, you probably don’t need to do this.

Some of the ways you can easily incorporate more sunlight into your life include:

Opening your curtains/blinds. Some people keep these closed either for privacy reasons or some other reason. If privacy is your concern, you can get curtains or other window treatments that improve privacy while still letting natural light in.
Sitting near windows. Whether you’re reading, drawing, or something else, even just sitting by a window is a great way to enjoy more sunlight.
Set up your workspace/study area by windows. As previously mentioned, sunlight helps with focus and mood. Setting up your workspace by windows rather than in a dark, windowless room of your home improves both your wellbeing and your productivity.
Opt for light-colored walls/furniture/home decor. While dark walls and furniture may be stately, they can also be depressing since they absorb light. Opting for light options means light being reflected around your space, which brightens it up immensely.
Utilizing mirrors. There are many tips and tricks for using mirrors that help boost natural light in your home. One of the best ones is positioning mirrors across from windows, so that they reflect light around your space, almost acting like a second window.
Clean and replace windows as needed. Dirty, old windows won’t let in as much light as clean, new windows. Have your windows cleaned on a regular basis and replace them as needed to ensure that they function their best.

Moyes Glass is here to provide you with top tier window services. From new construction windows to replacement windows and more, we let the light into your home or business. We also provide mirrors if you’d like to take advantage of all the varied ways mirrors can elevate a space, including by boosting natural light.