Water Features health benefits

You may not have thought about this, but actually there are many health benefits coming from water features and they are related to:

art therapy,
sound therapy,
refreshing and purifying the air,
stimulation of the vital energy (as desribed by Feng Shui philosopy)

Let's look at them one by one:

An indoor or outdoor waterfall, pond, water garden, can add a beautiful visual element to any garden, back yard or home decor. You can challange your artistic imagination, playing with different ways of creating beauty in your surrounding environment.

Water Features: Art Therapy

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has developed a study about the relation between art and health.

This research took a broad view of how the relationship between art and health is articulated. It draws on an increasing body of evidence that focuses on the importance of such factors as increased well-being and self-esteem, and on the role of participation and social connectedness in the enhancement of people’s health by building social capital

Indicators for such improvements include:

Enhanced motivation (both within the course of a project and in participants’ lives more generally).
Greater connectedness to others.
People’s own perceptions about having a more positive outlook on life.
Reduced sense of fear, isolation and anxiety.
Increased confidence, sociability, and even self-esteem.

By adding colorful flowers and rocks and even lights to water features, you can create corners of art and beauty to please your eyes and mind.

Falling or just moving water brings life to a too quite corner, while they enhance the environment with a peacefull, relaxing sound.

Water features: Sound therapy

Sound not only affects our state of mind, but can be actually used to improve our health. It is well known that sound therapy can dramatically change one's health.

The experiment described in Message from water page, shows how different sounds or music can affect water and indirectly our own body.

"Sound Therapy is becoming an increasingly popular way of 're-tuning' mind, body and spirit. Sound is used to correct imbalances on all levels of being using a method known as sympathetic resonance and entrainment." tells the Complementary Healthcare Information Service - UK ... and the sound of water is one of the most relaxing and beneficial for the mind

Water features: Refreshing and purifing the surrounding air

Water features provide additional health benefit by releasing negative ions, thereby purifying your environment; they also increase the humidity levels, decreasing the level of dust, pollutants and static electricity.

"Near strong surf or close to a waterfall up to 10.000 negative ions can be found, however the number of negative ions in major capital cities at rush hour does not even reach 100."

Water features bring life to your garden or house, not only by the moving water but also by plants and even fish that can be added. When outdoor they attract birds, butterflies and other forms of wild life awakening and enlivening the good energy (Chi)

A water garden opens up a new world of planting and landscaping possibilities. You can start small, with a hollowed-out stone that catches rainwater or jump right in with a half-acre pond that has water lilies, fish and a fountain.