Is your home environment making you tired or stressed? How your space affects hormones and health.
- Nancy West
- Apr 23
- 6 min read
The missing link in health conversations
We often think of health as something that happens in our bodies. Am I sick? Am I in pain? Do I feel strong and energised today? We separate mental health too—Am I stressed? Why do I feel so low?
What we often forget is how our environment effects health - both physical and mental. The truth is, your environment and your body are in constant communication. And whether you are aware of it or not, it’s either helping you to feel calm, clear and capable…. Or it’s quietly adding to your overwhelm.
Think about it: If you have ever walked into a room and instantly felt at ease—or on edge—you’ve felt this in action. The spaces we spend time in affect our mood, our focus, even our hormonal balance. Your environment is constantly sending signals to your nervous system. It’s either supporting your health… or it’s adding to the load.
When we take care of our bodies, we are creating an internal environment that supports health. Through good nutrition, exercise and sleep we can create more energy, vitality and optimised function. But what about the environment we are living in every day?
Your internal environment vs your external one
If you’re a woman over 40, already juggling a million tabs open in your brain, your space can easily tip you from “I’m holding it together” to “Why do I feel so overwhelmed all the time?”
Let’s say:
You're constantly tired, even after 8 hours of sleep.
You walk into your kitchen and instantly feel behind.
You can’t seem to wind down at night—even when you're exhausted.
You’re eating well, trying to move, but your energy and stress levels aren’t budging.
Your environment might be a missing piece of the health puzzle.
Whether it’s the lighting in your bedroom, the piles of paperwork in your “office corner,” or the open tabs in your visual field (hello, laundry baskets and half-finished projects)—your space is talking to your body.
It impacts things like:
Cortisol (stress hormone): Visual clutter = mental clutter. Your brain reads it as “unfinished business,” keeping you in a low-grade state of stress.
Melatonin (sleep hormone): Poor lighting, blue light from screens and devices, or chaotic surroundings can delay the wind-down signals your body needs to actually rest.
Nervous system regulation: Chaotic, cramped or disorganised spaces can keep you in a low-level “fight or flight” state—even when nothing is technically wrong.
The bedroom you crash in, the kitchen you half-love or the workspace that doubles as a dumping ground - it all has an effect on your wellbeing.
Real-life example: Overwhelmed and overstimulated
A client of mine, a busy working mum running her own business, came to me feeling drained, foggy and frustrated. She wasn’t sleeping well, constantly catching bugs, and felt stuck with low mood and a sense of overwhelm. She assumed it was hormones and stress—which were definitely part of it.
But when we did a full lifestyle audit using my coaching framework, something unexpected popped up: her environment was a stressor.
Her “workspace” was the corner of the living room—surrounded by half finished toddler craft projects, toy chaos, and household overflow. She felt distracted and never truly off-duty. Her brain never got the memo that it was time to rest or focus.
She admitted she would love to have it all organised, but the prospect of the task was too overwhelming. It just felt too big, too time consuming and made her think about all the other parts of the house that needed attention, and so never got started.
But instead of tackling the whole house, we started with one small change—clearing one surface. That one action created a ripple effect. One small change allowed capacity for other changes, with a compounding effect.
Within a few weeks, with some tweaks to nutrition and exercise as well as practical lifestyle changes we had a Mum who was feeling energised and with a much more positive outlook. Small changes within the home continued and gradually progress was made.
We can often find that when we are suffering, our spaces can also reflect this. It becomes much harder to give effort back to the environment around us when we are struggling within ourselves. It’s a two-way street.
Navigating an increasingly stimulating world.
We often underestimate how much energy we spend navigating our surroundings. Every time you scan a messy surface, trip over a pile of shoes, or feel guilty about the washing basket staring at you… your brain logs it as mental “noise.” And it’s cumulative.
This interplay produces reactions in our bodies - hormonal secretions which translate to feelings and emotions in our minds. These physiological responses can trigger physical and psychological changes that can even affect our immune system and ability to digest food adequately.
It’s also unique to each individual. We all know that person who seems to have a higher tolerance to chaos than we do. But how else is that showing up in their lives and their health?
In our modern world, environmental stressors come at us in many forms and our brains and bodies are constantly trying to filter the “information” to save our sanity.
Whether it's noise from traffic or the TV always on, light quality, air quality or clutter, the additional “load” can reduce our ability to focus, increase negative emotions, and even disrupt sleep.
Danielle Duggleby, a London based interior designer, passionate about creating deeply personal, seamlessly functional homes, put it beautifully when we discussed bedroom design to support sleep:
“Your bedroom should be more than just a place you crash at the end of the day; it should help you rest, restore and feel properly looked after. Your bedroom should soothe, not stress you out.”
Whether it’s your bedroom, kitchen, or workspace, designing with wellbeing in mind isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about function, flow, and how your space makes you feel. Sometimes the most powerful wellness upgrade isn’t another supplement—it’s a storage solution or a switch of colour.
Invisible stressors
And then there’s the invisible stuff that we may not realise are affecting our health:
Artificial scents and candles that mess with respiratory health.
Plastics and products with hormone-disrupting chemicals.
Harsh cleaning agents that irritate the skin and impact gut microbiome.
There’s something powerful that happens when we start looking after our environment. It expands the care we give ourselves to everything around us. From swapping to eco-friendly products, to watering the plant you used to ignore, to creating a calmer corner for your morning cuppa—your environment becomes a mirror of your values.
Even workplaces are catching on: companies that invest in wellbeing and design see happier, more productive people.
As Chris Grigg from British Land puts it in the report, A Design for Life,
We take our surroundings for granted, yet they uniquely influence every decision we make. From how we travel to work to whether we socialise, from how safe we feel and our openness to new ideas, to how healthy we are. And over time, this quiet influence impacts our wellbeing.
Having a workspace that is designed for the kind of work you do, whether that's an office, a kitchen or a studio, is going to impact the quality of the work we output. So it’s worth thinking about being intentional about these spaces. What is this space for? How can we optimise the space for wellbeing?
Because when your space feels intentional, you feel intentional.
When your space supports you, your health follows
It’s easy to overlook your environment when you’re thinking about your health.
We’re so often told to focus on what we eat, how much we move, or whether we’re meditating enough—and those things might be important.
But if your surroundings are working against you, it’s a bit like trying to swim upstream.
This is where holistic health coaching really comes into its own. My work isn’t just about nutrition and exercise —it’s about helping you mindfully shape a lifestyle that supports the version of you you want to be. That includes your space, your schedule, your energy, and the way you feel in your everyday life.
Finding the right support can be the ganechanger: whether it’s the expertise of a health coach or an interior designer to create practical solutions so that you can learn how to clear the noise, protect your energy and make your space a source of calm, not chaos.
About Me
I'm Nancy and my health coaching is designed for women over 40 who are ready to feel more in control of their health, energy and daily life—without sacrificing fun or freedom. Together, we’ll clear the noise (inside and out), build habits that feel good to you, and help you feel more like yourself again.
Curious to see what this could look like for you? Book a free discovery call and let’s chat—no pressure, no judgment, just real support.
