Biophilic design is a way of decorating your home that focuses on reconnecting with the natural world. This way of thinking is based on biophilia, the idea that humans have an innate attraction to nature. 

You know the feeling you get when you’ve hiked a mountain and you’re standing at the top enjoying the view with the wind brushing past your face? Or when you are standing with your toes in warm sand staring at the ocean waters that expand for miles and miles?

This attraction to the natural world is something that we often block out in our homes, offices and schools. We create functional buildings that separate us from nature.

To combat this, you can try incorporating the 14 patterns of biophilic design into your home. These patterns include sensory items that will reconnect you with the natural world. Something as simple as adding shells or plants to your space can lead to more positive emotions in your daily life.

ApartmentGuide has created a guide on biophilic design to help you incorporate it into your home. Browse through to see which patterns you already have and which you should consider adding!

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​I grew up in Texas. More specifically, west and central Texas, both with vastly different landscapes (flat desert/hills and rivers), but one thing in common: no ocean. 

I remember moments staring out into the cotton fields, pretending that the blanket of white buds were waves. And when my family did make it down to the Texas coast, I savored everything and collected memories like tiny grains of sand in a charm bottle.

And of course I combed the beaches for shells, little reminders of a place that felt more like home than the deserts and rivers I was used to.

Little did I know that all that yearning and dreaming would manifest into the life I live now. For nearly seven years I've called the Philippines home and I've never lived more than 10 minutes away from the ocean. 

I've collected a lot of shells and sea glass and pieces of jade. And as I've grown in my witchyness, I've learned a lot about how to use the ocean and shells in my magical practices. 

Shells can teach us many things and can be used as tools to help you meditate, manifest, and create magic in your life. 

Whether you already have a vast collection of seashells or plan on starting one next time you're near the sea, keep these magical uses for shells in mind.
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MAGICAL USES FOR SHELLS

• Healing and grounding
• Connection (put in your bath with sea salt to connect to the ocean and the shells' properties)
• Divination (like runes)
• Casting sacred circles
• Gridding
• Meditation (like you would with crystals)
• Altar decor
• Spell work (write sigils on them, put in a wish or spell bottle, use in your spells)
• Wear as an amulet
• Crafting (attach to your wand, adorn boxes, chests, besoms, and candles)
• Charge with your crystals​​

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SHELL MAGICAL PROPERTIES

Best shells for:

Grounding: auger, barnacle, pearl

Creativity: radiant, spiral, pearl, spindle

Healing/Cleansing: spiral wand, dish, pearl

Grief/Loss/Sadness: heart shaped cockle, spiral, pearl, barnacle

Energy boost: spiral, radiant, sand dollar, starfish

Protection: coral, pearl, starfish, auger

Beauty/Love: heart shaped shells, pearl, clam, conch, oyster, nautilus

Abundance/Growth/Strength: coral, starfish, cowrie, scallop, whelk

Meditation/Serenity: starfish, moon shell, spindle

Radiant shells include scallops, limpets, and cockle shells. 

Spiral shells include long and round augers, nautilus, harp, cowrie, and cone shells. Round spirals are best for energy flow and enhancement. Long spirals are best for connecting with spirit (when pointed up) and earth (when pointed down).

Dish shells like clams and abalone act as a container and can support us in healing and cleansing. 

Scallops are the quartz crystals of the ocean, as they can be used in place of any other shell, as well as amplify your shell magic. ​

5. Crochet a Stuffed Animal

Despite what others say, you're never too old for stuffed animals. And if you don't want to keep your creation for yourself, give it to a relative or friend. Giving gifts can improve your mood and encourage gratitude. Brighten someone else's spirits along with yours.

Make your stuffed animal out of virtually any material — use a pair of denim jeans, lightly worn socks or a t-shirt. Sew old clothing for a straightforward process, or crochet a pattern for a homemade look and feel.

6. Create a Mason Jar Pendant Light

Light up your home with a unique twist by designing pendant lights out of empty mason jars. You'll need a nail, hammer, pliers and shears in addition to the bulb and container. Use the light socket to trace a circle on the lid, and cut this shape out. Line this opening with smaller holes to allow ventilation — your jar will heat up quickly when the light is on. Put the socket through the opening and screw on the lightbulb. Choose an Edison lightbulb for a rustic look, or go with a modern LED.

7. Build a Twine Ball Lamp

Twine lamps embody refinement, but maybe you're reluctant to spend tons of money on them. Thankfully, making your own is cost-effective and stress-free. All you need is a balloon, yarn, paint and glue.

Inflate the balloon to your desired lamp size. Fill a bowl with clear-drying glue and dip the ball of yarn into it. Unravel the yarn and wrap it around the balloon until it's fully covered, then tie the rest of the thread to the balloon knot. Let it dry overnight before popping the balloon. Make it your favorite color using paintbrushes or spray paint.

8. Design Wallpaper Notebooks

Create a handy notebook using wallpaper, scrap paper and a stapler. Your scrap paper can be lined or graph paper, so long as it folds well. Cut your wallpaper to match the size and wrap it around the writing paper. Glue the front and back of the scrap paper to the wallpaper to reinforce it, or staple it for a finished piece.

Relax and Renew

Sit down with a fresh DIY project whenever you feel stress rearing its head. Your tension will melt when you participate in meaningful and fun activities. Grab a couple friends and turn it into a group stress-relief session.​

Before any real, positive change can happen you must realize that you are worthy of and deserve happiness. You are meant to show up in this world, shine your light, create, and be happy.

To truly manifest, you must change from the inside out.

Manifesting isn't just about thinking positive thoughts and reciting affirmations – it's digging into your deepest beliefs about yourself and the world around you, uprooting the beliefs that no longer serve you, and getting in alignment with your highest self. 

A positive change in thinking creates space for transformation. It allows you to sweep out the cobwebs of self-doubt and invite in miracles and magic. You must, before anything else, make room for the kind of life you want to live.

So how do you do this?

​By accepting yourself and claiming your spiritual self-worth. By practicing gratitude and forgiveness.

​PRACTICE GRATITUDE

By now I'm sure you've read tons of blog posts, articles, and books about the practice of gratitude, but I'm including it here because it really does make a difference. People aren't writing about it because it doesn't work. People are writing about it because it changes lives.

Think about it: when you're always seeking the next big thing, you can't focus on what you already have. Everything you own you once wanted. And it doesn't just stop at material things. You can have gratitude for your health, your body, your relationships, experiences big and small.

You can have gratitude that you opened your eyes this morning and that a zombie apocalypse isn't going on.

Gratitude allows us to appreciate what we already have, which in turn allows for more goodness to fill our lives. But even if nothing else ever came to you, gratitude creates contentment.

You could be perfectly happy knowing that you have everything you need. And when you really get down to it, you probably have everything you need in abundance. The bare necessities: water, food, shelter, clothing. How many outfits are in your closet? How many times did you eat today? Does water flow from your tap? Will you crawl into a comfy bed tonight?

These are things that are so easy to take for granted if you've grown up with them. They're almost expected, but many people in the world aren't afforded simple needs, much less small luxuries and pleasures.

Place gratitude in your heart. Wake each morning with a spirit full of love knowing that you are divinely blessed.

You can practice gratitude by keeping a thank you list and filling it out each day, week, or month. Whatever feels right for you. List everything you can think of, from the crème brule you had for dessert to the half mile you were able to run. There are so many things to be grateful for. 

​PRACTICE FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness is powerful in that it releases us from our own bondage. Many people find forgiveness challenging because they think by forgiving the person who wronged them, they're getting a free pass.

The truth is, when you hold a grudge, when you don't forgive someone, you're only hurting yourself. The pain stays inside you while the other person moves on.

It's important to understand that forgiveness does not mean that what the person did to you was right. It only means that you take back the power and release yourself from the pain the person caused.

One way to look at it is to think of the people who may have wronged you as teachers. They showed up in your life to teach you something, to be stronger, to look at things in a new way, to sympathize with others who may have had similar experiences.

Also know this, that just because you forgive someone doesn't mean you have to let them back into your life. You don't even have to like them. You just have to imagine a line that stretches from your heart to theirs and pain moving through that line like electricity. Break the line. Say, “You may go in peace,” or whatever feels right to you in order to break free.

It's also important to note that sometimes the person we need to forgive the most is ourselves. Have you ever held something over your own head that served as a reason for why you should “get what's coming to you”?

Once upon a time I did something I couldn't forgive myself for. I hurt someone I loved very much in a way that just seemed despicable to me. Even though this person forgave me, I couldn't forgive myself for many years and any time something bad happened to me or someone hurt me, I said I deserved it for what I had done in the past.

The truth is, the past is the past and we've all let our shadow selves overpower our higher selves at some point, but there comes a time when we must let our higher selves forgive those dark parts. I let my ego run amok when I hurt that person, but that is no longer who I am. What's done is done and the curtain's dropped on that situation.

​Whether the other person forgives you or not, you must cut the ropes around your own hands. Let it go, breathe it out, and move on. 

​You can practice forgiveness by writing down your resentments on a piece of paper. Try something like, "I release all my anger towards x. I give it up to the universe for my highest loving good." Then, light sage in a smudge bowl, place your paper in the fire, and let the smoke take it up and away from you.

​This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links.

It’s about time that we did more for ourselves. If you actually think about all of the things that you do in a day, you will most likely think of all of the things that you’re doing for other people. You’ll go to work to work for someone else, you’ll go and do the shopping to cook dinner for your family, you’ll go to social events because it’s someone else's birthday. You’ll just be doing things that aren’t for the benefit of yourself, because you don’t actually enjoy doing them.

You go to work because you have to earn a living, and you’ll do everything else because that’s the pattern of life that most of us fall into. But this truly is not the way that life should be. You should start focusing on the ways that you can do more for yourself, so that when you look back on a day, it wasn’t just filled with the norm that you have to do. So that you can actually feel like you’re bettering yourself. So if you know you need to make some changes, hopefully this article will inspire you to do so!

End Your Mental Struggle

Now it’s about time we spoke about this, because so many of you will be going through a mental struggle that you just don’t see ending. It’s so easy for us to think that we’re alone with our mental health issues, and that no one around us is going to understand what we’re going through. So we bottle it up, and we let it get worse and worse as the months go on.

But if you were to just reach out and use platforms such as Supportiv, you’d find a whole different side to your mental health. You’d realize that so many people are going through what you’re going through. It helps to connect with people who are going through the same thing, and understand it from someone else’s perspective.​
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