When it comes to natural lighting in our homes, it's something we all struggle to get enough of during the winter months. We know that getting outside for fresh air and vitamin D during the year is important. But what about natural lighting in our home?

There are many studies that support the benefits of natural lighting. With a clear link between natural lighting, our mood and general wellness.

The Benefits of Natural Lighting

Wards Off Seasonal Affective Disorder

SAD or seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern. This is usually heightened during the winter where the days are much shorter and the days much darker. During this time, symptoms experienced can be much more severe.

Whilst the winter months are much harder, there is still pockets of natural lighting that can benefit you both indoors and outdoors. Getting outside and getting as much natural light as possible can help to keep mood changes at bay.

Working from home may have brought a whole host of additional problems to the mix. Especially where it can often be difficult to get out for a walk during the day when it's light. To make the most of the natural lighting on the days you can't get out, position your desk as close to a window as possible or positioning under a skylight if possible.

It Improves Psychological Wellbeing

Never underestimate the benefits of waking up to the sun or heading out for a walk in the fresh air. Natural light has a huge impact on our psychological wellbeing. A lack of daylight can cause mood swings, make us feel down, depressed or anxious which can be part of a wider problem such as SAD. The condition SAD speaks volumes about how important natural daylight is to our mental wellbeing.

Those dark and cold mornings can impact your morning routine. But getting enough natural daylight can help to actively combat negative pscyhological wellbeing. Getting more daylight really does help us feel better as a whole.

It Improves Sleep

It's no surprise that natural lighting has a good effect on your mental health and sleep patterns. A study in 2014 revealed that the office workers who were exposed to more natural light experienced better sleep.

One of the benefits that natural light has on sleep is keeping our circadian rhythm in check. Natural light can help our bodies realign to the natural rhythm they’re supposed to keep. Sleeping in a room with light curtains or blinds that are not blacked out can help you to rise with the light in the mornings. Whilst this might not be so easy to replicate in the winter, certain SAD alarm clocks can help you to continually rise with light in the darker months.

It Improves Productivity & Focus

Poorly lit rooms and dark winter days can make us feel sluggish and distracted. If you're currently working from home, the good news is that natural light can actually make us more productive.

There are strong links between the benefits of natural light exposure and our overall productivity. Particularly in the workplace, natural light has been linked to improved focus, efficiency, and less illness.

Why Does Poor Lighting Cause Headaches?

Not only can poor lighting have an impact on your productivity, it could be the symptom of that daily headache too. This is more likely to happen when you're at home or in a workspace that is using poor lighting choices to make up for the lack of natural lighting.

Fluorescent lighting, overhead incandescent lighting and computer screens can all play their part in triggering a headache or migraine. It doesn't usually matter what the colour temperature of the bulb is when these lighting choices are employed. Causing glare on your computer screen or having to put up with that constant flicker is enough to set any head off.

Choosing the right light choices in your home or workspace is key to keeping those headaches at bay. If changing the light sources is not an option, try repositioning your desk to an area which is not underneath a main light source.

It Can Improve Energy Efficiency

Aside from our mental health, natural light can improve our financial and environmental situation too. Flooding natural lighting into our home means fewer hours of using your lighting and more time to reap the health benefits of natural lighting. To encourage more natural light into your home, opt for curtains or blinds rather then net curtains which can absorb some light. Opt for skylights and floor to ceiling doors or windows where possible to maximum exposure.

Installing solar panels on your home will help take you one step closer to powering your home solely by natural lighting. It keeps your electricity bills low, and you'll be able to reap all of the other added benefits of natural light too.

Natural lighting can bring so many free benefits to our general health and wellbeing. We promise your productivity, sleep and general happiness will thank you for it.