​Did you know there’s a scientific reason why a shower feels so refreshing? It’s the same reason why people flock to lakes, oceans, and waterfalls for vacations. Falling water from fountains, waterfalls, and even your morning shower, releases negative ions into the surrounding atmosphere. And these ions have a profound effect on our physical well-being.

When you’re in an environment where the concentration of negative ions is greater than positive ions, it will have a positive effect on your body and mind. There’s an increase in blood flow and oxygen content to your cells; it lowers blood pressure and stabilizes respiration, creating a calming effect. Increased oxygen content in your blood is critical for all metabolic functions, which in turn effects your mood.

​It’s no secret that water features provide soothing sights and sounds that help you relax and de-stress in today’s busy world. Now more than ever, with a lingering pandemic on hand, we need the healing effects that water provides.

Whether you’re dealing with stress, illness, or wish to improve your overall outlook on life, consider adding a pond, waterfall, or fountain to your outdoor living space. Experts agree it can be extremely therapeutic!
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When you want to enjoy your water feature as the sun begins to set, be sure to add outdoor lighting. During Phoenix summers, it's pretty much the only time we can get outside without melting! Most people think to add landscape lighting around a deck or patio, but don’t neglect your water feature for optimal nighttime viewing! Here you’ll find pretty backyard lighting ideas for your pond, waterfall, or fountain.
Adding underwater lighting to a pond helps you enjoy watching your fish swim at night. It’s almost magical watching them dart in and out of the lights.

For water feature owners, backyard lighting ideas include both pond and landscape lights. Underwater lights allow you to see fish in the evening, while garden path lights accentuate the architectural elements of terrestrial plants.

​A small spotlight showcases a fountain in a front or backyard.

​No matter what type of water feature you have, you can enhance its beauty well into the evening hours with the addition of pond and garden lighting.

Many people are opting for (or being forced into) homeschooling in some form these days. Whether you have a kindergartener or a teenager, this can be challenging. Even if you're kiddo is attending online school, you might be struggling with ways to enrich their education, or just flat-out keep them motivated. Believe it or not, a pond can help!

A well-build ecosystem pond or water feature can be a terrific education-enhancing tool for teaching the basics: reading, writing & math. Reading next to a water feature can be a very pleasurable experience. The sound of a well-designed waterfall or babbling brook is relaxing, so if your child has reading anxiety, this could help calm that down. And there are tons of cool articles and blogs about ponds, or whatever actually interests them.
Aside from the calming effect of a water feature to help ease anxieties about the drudgery of school assignments, writing a little story about one of the pond fish could be an excellent lesson in observation and/or creative writing.
Math is not always a subject loved by all, so don't tell the little minx they're about to have a math lesson. Just ask them how they would calculate how much water is in the pond to do a water treatment. Little guys and gals might just want to count the fish. If you happen to have multiple kids, this is the perfect way to get them involved with each other.

Music lessons by the pond? You betcha! Water has it's own music, so ask your little prodigy to find the beat and incorporate that into their playing. Allow them to be creative and think outside the box.
Art is an obvious subject to teach by the pond: draw the pond; draw the fish; draw the plants; draw the birds that visit -- you get the idea. Or maybe grab a Monet book from the library and compare his art to how your pond looks.
Recess is a great time for a rousing game of follow-the-leader!

This should be an easy one! Ecosystem ponds provide all kinds of cool science, anatomy, and biology lessons. If you have a microscope, there are even more possibilities!

We've gotten so regimented in our school-based learning processes that we forget that everything around us provides learning and teaching opportunities. A pond can be your most useful education enrichment tool, while also providing a calm atmosphere for lessons that might have caused your child learning anxieties in the past. Use your imagination and let your inner kid come out and play with your child -- you might be amazed at how that square peg that didn't fit into the school's round hole will blossom! Bonus: a magnificent sense of parental accomplishment for you. You've now earned that chocolate bar during nap time. ;-)

Feel free to comment below to share your own cool ideas and experiences!

OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
WATER FEATURES HAVE HEALING POWER
KOI AND POND FISH ANATOMY
​KIDS AND PONDS: LET'S GO OUTSIDE​

Hospital patients who have a view of natural landscapes recover faster from surgery and require less pain medication. In addition, heart rate, blood pressure, and other measures return to normal levels more quickly when people view natural rather than urban landscapes after a stressful experience.
The Sustainable Sites Initiative. Standards and Guidelines: Preliminary Report. 

It’s no secret that water features provide soothing sights and sounds that help you relax and de-stress in today’s busy world. Now more than ever, we need the healing effects that water provides.
Whether you’re dealing with stress, illness, or simply wish to improve your overall outlook on life, consider adding a pond, waterfall, or fountainscape to your outdoor living space. Experts agree it can be extremely therapeutic!

As landscape architects and experts in healing garden design, we specify water features in most of our projects. We’ve had great success with using the Aquascape product line. Their natural pond systems fit perfectly into our design solutions and offer our clients a sustainable solution that adds a positive distraction to the healthcare environment. We also design water features in unusual locations like roof decks. Aquascape sculptural water displays add a nice balance to the healing garden aesthetic.
Geoff Roehll, Senior Vice President, Hitchcock Designs
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Our patients and their families find peace and tranquility when visiting our beautiful water features. We receive a great deal of positive feedback on the addition of the water gardens to our facility. Even the staff and board members have found the water features to be beneficial for relieving stress and improving their daily outlook.
Nancy Vance, Executive Director, Living Well Cancer Resource Center