*Collaborative post.

Let there be light! Well, just the right amount of light, anyway. You might be surprised to learn that utterly bathing yourself in light isn’t always the best measure for safeguarding your wellbeing. There’s much to be said for ambient lighting – a softer, gentler form of lighting.

Nonetheless, striking just the right balance with your ambient lighting for optimum wellness can be tricky, as the following revelations about this especially peculiar type of lighting attest.

What’s the big deal about ambient lighting?

Considering that, as The Science Times reports, 80% of our lives are spent indoors, you could be tempted to think that it’s a simple case of “the more, the better” when it comes to indoor lighting. Indeed, interior designers are often eager to maximise the natural light that enters an indoor space.

However, it doesn’t strictly follow that you should simply switch on some fluorescent lighting to full blast. Daily Harmony points out that fluorescent lighting is prone to flickering – which, though typically imperceptible, can lead to eyestrain.

Where you find that artificial lighting is practically necessary, the trick is to set it up to emulate natural lighting. In this way, you can keep eye strain at bay while potentially improving your mood and productivity.

Light and dark: two sides of the same coin

People are usually warned against working in darkness, but research suggests that darkness itself isn’t really the problem – at least not when combined with a fair share of light. It bears emphasis that both humans and animals are deeply connected to light, which generally dictates when we are awake instead of asleep.

All the same, though, excessive electrical lighting – as resulting from the likes of street lighting, vehicle headlights and neon signs, giving rise to “light pollution” – can adversely affect our circadian rhythm. Therefore, we need to be careful to get the balance between light and dark just right.

The precise type of ambient lighting can be important. Research indicates that some types can increase alertness and affect energy levels. By way of example, if you want to illuminate a workspace in a way that makes your employees more energetic and alert, then blue lighting could be a good choice.

How can you set up ambient lighting?

Here’s some great news: there are various options for ambient lighting. These include table lamps, which the Better Homes & Gardens website recommends you place so that the bottom of the shade meets roughly your eye level. An overly high shade here could result in eyestrain-causing glare, while a shade left too low could deflect too much of the light onto the table.

Ambient lighting, by its very nature, isn’t overbearing and, consequently, could struggle to cover a whole room. For this reason, you might need to place multiple lighting fixtures around the room to ensure a consistent concentration of this lighting – and that’s where floor lamps can help. You could be pleasantly surprised by the variety of lighting fixtures on sale online.