8 Wellness Office Design Ideas To Elevate Your Work Space
If you’re struggling to find your office inner peace, todays post is for you! Whether you work at home, from the office or you combine the two, creating a dedicated calm space and styling it with helpful extras can help you stay motivated and keep a healthy living mindset at the forefront of your mind.
Over the last 15 years I’ve lead mindfulness and wellbeing training sessions for teams in a variety of work spaces. Some offices are sprawling tech havens with multiple wellness suites and around the clock healthy catering. Other offices are smaller and have a boutique feel. Some have more than one base with staff around world tuning in remotely for our meditation sessions.
But most of the teams I work with in London fall somewhere in between. They work a few days from home, and when they’re in the office they make use of the spaces they have access to for quiet sessions. Or, they turn a cozy corner of the office into a dedicated space for people to get a much needed wellness boost.
The good news is whatever space you have to work with there’s something you can do to bring calm to your office. Here are a few pointers from my latest feature in Ideal Living Magazine to explore.
Looking for wellness inspiration for your desk space? We’ve got you covered! – MORE
8 Wellness Office Design Ideas To Elevate Your Work Space
1. Quiet. A distraction/interruption free location, if a single location can’t be closed off create an arrangement where having a quiet undistributed moment is supported.
2. Seats. Add a variety of seats to your calm space as not everyone likes to sit on a pillow. A comfy chair, a meditation cushion, or large bean bags. Soft furnishings also absorb noise noise which is handy if you need a little peace and quiet. Consider a yoga mat if you want to get into the habit of moving or stretching mid afternoon.
3. Design. Decorate with natural, calm colours. You want to feel relaxed yet energized, so think of a clear, paired back environment that leaves you refreshed and ready to create, rather than asleep at the spa.
4. Biophillia. Don’t forget to include plants. You can learn how to choose indoor plants that enhance meditation with my tips for The Joy Of Plants and Marie Claire Magazine here.
5. Benefit from the right light. Try to fill your calm space with as much natural light as possible to support the hormonal system, with an option to dim or use soft lights to avoid overhead glare later in the day.
6. Scent. Consider using an aromatherapy room spray or diffuser to create a fresh atmosphere. Here’s a handy stress reduction scent list to help you choose.
7. Pen, paper and note books. Some people find it hard to relax because as soon as they sit down they they can’t stop thinking about their to-do list. And there are others who find switching off for a moment opens them to a wave of new perspectives and amazing ideas. Either way, having pen and paper to hand means you can take those thoughts, positive or negative, out of your mind and onto the page, freeing up headspace and leaving you free to enjoy the rest of your calm time.
Blank paper is fantastic as not all ideas come in words. Learn more about journaling and see my pick of plain page journals here
8. Art. There’s a whole practice of using art (on the wall or in picture books) as an object of contemplation in meditation, which I wrote about in my book Inhale. Exhale Repeat. Art can offer a great visual focus in meditation. Hang your beautiful landscape or nature painting a comfortable viewing distance away and let your eyes move around the piece. Different people will find different paintings speak to them and encourage that meditative gaze.
What kind of wellness space does your office have? And if you don’t have one what would you like to see in order to bring a culture of mindfulness and wellbeing to your workday?
