(BPT) – It’s easy to get overwhelmed as you go about your day. Between work, school, errands and extracurricular activities, there are plenty of things that can cause physical and mental stress. That’s why it’s so important that your home is a haven for your family.
One strategy you can use to start transforming your home into a calming retreat is changing your home’s lighting. According to Healthline, research suggests that color and colored lights can subtly affect your mood. Combining different colored lighting with self-care practices can create the right environment for you and your children to recharge from the day, relax and prepare for the next.
Check out these three easy ways to support your family’s mental health at home by pairing lighting with soothing practices.
1. Revamp the ambiance and your mood
If you’ve ever walked into a room with blue walls and soft natural lighting, you’ve probably noticed how you feel calmer. Or perhaps you’ve walked into a room with warm red tones and soft amber lighting and felt cozy and relaxed. These are just a couple of subtle ways color and lighting can impact mood.
You can incorporate bright colors and lighting into your home office space or common areas to boost your and your teen’s energy and creativity. Soft pastels and warm lighting in your living room and bedrooms can help soothe you after a long day of work and play. Whatever you do, be intentional about the ambiance you create to uplift or unwind, depending on your mood.
You don’t need to repaint your living room or change out all the lightbulbs in your home to create the ideal ambiance. BlissLights ambient lights and galaxy projector lights are an easy way to change the atmosphere of any room and your mood at the touch of a button. Sky Lite projectors were designed to transform your space into a place of peace and calm. They’re easy to set up and control and have numerous options to suit your family’s needs.
2. Practice yoga or meditation at home
It seems like there are thousands of apps and programs now promoting the mental health benefits of yoga and meditation, and there’s a good reason for it. A growing number of research studies support yoga and meditation’s effect on mental, emotional and physical health, including easing stress and depression.
Starting your day with a short yoga or meditation session can help you transition from sleep into wakefulness and start your day off on the right foot. You can also practice yoga and meditation in the afternoons or evenings to help you unwind and settle in after a busy day. You can take this as time for yourself or invite your children to join you and help them build intentional practices and tune into their bodies and feelings.
To support these mental health practices, you can use the Sky Lite 2.0 to create an atmospheric experience that uplifts your mood, spurs your creativity, or helps you let go of a long day. Let your worries drift away under the floating, gentle movement of nebulas and twinkling stars in red, blue and green.
3. Settle in for the night and wake up refreshed
The lighting in your room can help or hinder your circadian rhythm, the natural internal process that regulates your sleep-wake cycle. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, your circadian clock is most sensitive to light two hours before bedtime and one hour after waking, meaning that lighting during these times can have a powerful impact on your mood and energy.
The BlissLights Radia smart ambient mood light diffuses gentle, colorful lighting for stimulation or relaxation. Using your smartphone, you can set timers and alarms to seamlessly change the lighting in your room throughout the day and night. Wake up with a gentle light alarm, complement your day with brilliant task light, and unwind with soft ambient lighting in the evening.
You can also set the mood light to switch to nightlight mode automatically at bedtime, a helpful feature if you have young children who aren’t comfortable sleeping in a dark room. By selecting the dusk to dawn option, you’ll help your little ones and your teens to wake up easy with natural ambient lighting as if they’re waking up to the sun.
Investing in your and your children’s mental wellness doesn’t have to be complicated. Using these three tips, you can make small changes that have a big impact on your family’s mood and energy.