Biophilic Design: Why Nature in Your Home Supports Health and Well-Being

Why Some Spaces Feel Alive — And Why That Matters for Your Well-Being

Some spaces feel different the moment you walk in. You settle. You breathe. Something shifts. In this episode of the Design & Living Well series, Sheri explores why that feeling isn’t random. It’s rooted in our connection to nature, and how bringing natural elements into our spaces can quietly support healing, calm, and clarity.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

• Why humans are wired for nature, and what happens when we disconnect from it
• The Roger Ulrich study that changed how we understand nature and recovery
• How biophilic design supports the nervous system and overall well-being
• How Sheri integrates natural light and living elements into her acupuncture clinic
• Simple ways to bring nature into your home without redesigning your space

"Nature doesn't ask you to perform. It just invites you to settle."

SHOW NOTES

Research + References Mentioned:

• Ulrich, R. S. (1984). View Through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery
• Wilson, E. O. (1984). Biophilia, Harvard University Press
• teamLab Borderless, Tokyo

If You Enjoyed This Episode:

• Episode 7: The Healing Power of Biophilic Design | Jackie Barry
• Episode 15: Living, Sustainable Design, and Nature as a Guide | Kimberly Phipps-Nichol
• Episode 58: Beyond Aesthetics: Designing a Healthy Home Environment

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Transcript

Welcome And Series Context

Sheri 0:20

Welcome back to another episode of the Wellness Inspired Podcast, a place where you can find inspiration, motivation, and empowerment in the pursuit of a wellness lifestyle. I'm your host, Sherry Davidson. I'm a wellness coach, acupuncturist, trailrunner, and former interior designer in Houston, Texas. And I am deeply passionate about health and well-being. And as always, I'm here with my co-host Finn. If you're new to the podcast, Finn is my Terrier Mix Rescue dog, trailrunner, and loyal companion. He is also a therapy dog and greeter at Element 5 Acupuncture and Wellness. In the first two episodes of the Design Living Well series, I've been exploring how our environments shape how we live and feel. We started with the philosophy that design isn't decoration. It's how life moves through a space. Then we went deeper into the mechanics, decision fatigue, sensory overload, layout, and why some spaces quietly drain us while others make life feel easier. Today, I want to talk about something that's been a thread through my life and work for a long time. Nature. Not nature as a trend, not nature as an aesthetic choice, but nature as something we genuinely need in the spaces where we live, work, and heal. And for those of you who don't know, I'm a former interior designer. And when I was in school, I became fascinated with Japanese wooden houses, how they were built not to separate people from nature, but be a part of it. The way they used natural materials, invited light in, blurred the line between indoors and out. That stuck with me. And it shaped how I think about design and wellness

Why We Need Nature Indoors

Sheri 1:57

ever since. And if you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know this isn't a new topic for me. I talked with Jackie Berry back in episode seven about the healing power of biophilic design. That was a conversation I have wanted to have for a long time because this has been a passion of mine well before biophilic design became a buzzword. And that episode only deepened my thinking. So if you haven't listened to that one, I recommend going back after this episode. We'll put a link in the show notes to make it easy for you. But today I want to approach it from a different angle. Not what biophilic design is, but why it works and why, when we remove nature from our daily environments, something essential goes missing. Are you ready? Okay, let's dive in. It was coined by the simple humans have an innate need to connect with other living things and natural systems. It's not a preference, it's not a lifestyle choice, it's built into us. And when you think about it, that makes sense. For most of human history, we lived in direct relationship with the natural world. Our bodies evolved in response to sunlight, seasonal rhythms, natural sounds, and open landscapes. We are wired for nature the way we were wired for connection. But now most of us spend the vast majority of our time indoors in sealed buildings, under artificial life, surrounded by manufactured surfaces, and we've normalized that so completely that we don't even notice what's missing until we step outside and something shifts. You feel it on a trail, you feel it sitting by water, you feel it when you walk into a room filled with natural light and living plants. Something in your body settles, your breathing changes, your shoulders drop. You didn't do anything. The environment did it for you. That's not imagination, that's biology. And it's interesting. There are immersive art experiences now. You walk through rooms of projected flowers, flowing water, and forests of light. They're stunning. Part of me loves the creativity of it. But part of me also wonders what does it say about us when we're building technology to recreate what's already outside? And I don't have an answer for that, but I think the impulse tells us something important. The need for nature is so deep that we'll go to extraordinary lengths to fill it, even artificially.

The Hospital Window That Healed

Sheri 4:36

One of the most well-known studies on this comes from Roger Ulrich, an environmental psychologist. In 1984, he published a study in the Journal of Science that changed how we think about nature and healing. He looked at surgical patients recovering in the hospital in Pennsylvania. Some had rooms with windows facing a natural setting, trees with full foliage. Others had rooms and windows facing a brick wall. Same surgery, same hospital, same care. The patients with the view of the trees recovered faster. They needed less pain medication, they had fewer negative notes from nurses, and they left the hospital sooner. Just a view. Not a walk in the forest, not a meditation retreat, a window with trees. Imagine that. The study is over 40 years old now, and it's still one of the most cited pieces in research and environmental psychology because it confirms something we intuitively know, but rarely act on. Nature isn't a luxury, it's a healing resource. I appreciate

Designing A Clinic For Calm

Sheri 5:40

this often in my acupuncture practice. So if you've been to my clinic, my waiting area has floor-to-ceiling windows that look out into a courtyard. When patients arrive before they get called back to the room, they're sitting in natural light with a view of the sky, trees, and green. And in the treatment rooms, I have images of trees and plants on the wall. None of that is accidental. I designed it that way because I know from research and from experience that what a person sees while they're receiving care matters. It's not just about making a space look nice, it's about creating the conditions for the nervous system to let go. When someone walks in and the first thing they encounter is natural light, living greenery, and a view of something alive, the body starts the process of settling before the treatment even begins. That is biophilic design and practice. And it's not reserved for clinics or hospitals. It belongs in our homes too. And I can't tell you how many times people come into my clinic for the first time and they say, Oh my God, I love it here. It feels so peaceful. Now, you don't need a courtyard or floor-to-ceiling windows to bring nature into your daily life.

Easy Biophilic Design At Home

Sheri 6:52

Biophilic design at home can be as simple as what you see, what you touch, and what you hear. Plants bring life and rhythm into a room. Natural materials like wood, stone, linen, and wool, they feel differently under your hands than synthetics. A window you actually look through and not just one you cover with blinds. And sounds from the outside that your home lets in instead of blocking out entirely, like the birds, the rain, the wind. Now, real plants are ideal. They grow, they change, they respond to seasons, they bring actual life into a space. But I also want to be honest, and not everyone can maintain live plants. Maybe you travel a lot, maybe your light isn't great. And the research actually shows that even images of nature and high-quality representations of natural elements have measurable calming effects. Not as strong as a real thing, but not nothing. So if a faux plant or a photograph of a forest is what is realistic for you right now, it's still worth doing. These aren't design upgrades, they're invitations for your nervous system to remember what it already knows, that you're part of the natural world, not separate from it. And here's what I find most interesting. People often feel better in spaces with natural elements without even knowing why. They'll say a room feels calm or warm or grounding, and they can't quite explain it. For my clinic, it's calm and peaceful. They think it's the color of the walls, the furniture layout, but often it's the present of something living, something natural, something that connects them, even subtly, to the world outside. And research has also shown that wood, believe this or not, wood that shows its grain can actually relax the autonomic nervous system. That's not about style, that is a physiological response to a natural material. I

Outdoor Movement As Sensory Reset

Sheri 8:55

experience this in a different way when I move outdoors. Trail running is a huge part of my life. And if you've been listening, you probably already know that. But one of the reasons I keep coming back to it beyond the challenge, beyond the adventure, is what happens to my nervous system when I'm out there, surrounded by trees, breathing unfiltered air, moving over uneven ground and hearing nothing but wind, birds, and my own footsteps. And of course, sometimes my friends chatting. It's a full sensory reset. And I come back from a troll run feeling different, not just physically tired, but mentally clear. Calm in a way that an indoor workout doesn't quite match. But it's not just trail running. I run with friends at Memorial Park regularly. And even that, being outside together in green space, changes the quality of the experience. I also work out at an outdoor gym. Well, it's called the preserve, uh, and it's an indoor gym, but they also have an outdoor gym. And um this is where I do weight classes. And I notice a difference. The same workout feels different when there's a sky overhead, when there's a breeze, and when you're not under fluorescent lights. It's not just about exercise, it's about where the exercise happens. That's nature doing what it does, regulating us, reminding our bodies of the rhythm that existed long before screens and schedules.

Nature Rhythm And Seasonal Pace

Sheri 10:19

And that rhythm matters. Nature doesn't just move at one speed. I love this about nature. It shifts. Morning light is different from afternoon light. Spring energy is different from winter energy. The natural world gives us permission to slow down, to shift with the seasons, to not be the same every day. And when we bring natural elements into our homes, we're bringing a little of that rhythm with us. A plant that grows and changes, light that moves through a room, and materials that age and weather. These things are alive in a way our manufactured environments are not. And that aliveness, even in small doses, is regulating. This connects to everything we've been talking about in this Design and Living Well series. In the first episode in the series, I said that ease is a form of care. In the second episode, we talked about how space either supports us quietly or works against us. Nature is one of the most powerful ways a space can support you because it works at a level beneath your conscious awareness. You don't have to think about it, you don't have to practice it, you don't have to be disciplined about it. You just have to be near it. And that's what makes biophilic design so relevant to wellness. It's not another thing to do, it's a condition that supports everything else you're already trying to do. Sleep better, feel calmer, think more clearly, and move through your day with less friction. Nature doesn't just ask you to perform, it just invites you to settle. So

One Small Change To Try

Sheri 11:55

here's what I'd invite you to notice this week. Where does nature already show up in your home? Where is it completely absent? And what would it feel like to add one living thing, one plant, one view, one natural texture to a space you spend time in every day? This can be at work too. You don't need to redesign anything, you just need to let a little of the outside in. Because nature doesn't belong outside our homes. It belongs inside them. And when we make room for it, something in us remembers how to rest. Okay, let's wrap it up

Next Episode Tease And Closing

Sheri 12:33

here. I hope you really enjoyed this content. And the final episode, that's part four of the Design and Living Well series. I'll bring everything together: philosophy, mechanics, nature, and we'll explore why wellness doesn't stick in a chaotic environment. If you've ever wondered why the calm you feel in one place disappears the moment you return to another, that episode is for you. All right, everyone, I will see you next time and have a wonderful day. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to the podcast and share with your family and friends. You can also give me a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcast. It helps others find me as well. To get updates on new episodes and wellness inspiration in your inbox, please join the wellness inspired community. Go to the wellness inspired podcast.com to sign up. I'll put the link to the website in the show notes so you can click and join. Also, there's a Facebook community at the Wellness Inspired, and you can follow me on Instagram at wellness underscoreinspired. If you're in the Houston area or just visiting and interested in our services, acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping, zinchiatsu, or dry needling therapy, contact us. You can find out more on our website at element5om.com. That's element5thenumber5om.com. And again, I'll put the link in the show notes. If you're interested in health and wellness coaching, we can connect in the clinic or on Zoom. Reach out to us and we'll get you on the schedule. And as always, I would love to hear your feedback. I am dedicated to bringing you great content that is inspiring and informative with an artsy fun edgy spin. Thank you so much for listening. We'll meet here again next time. And remember, never stop exploring, learning, loving, and being you. Bye.