How about letting your muscles relax and your pulse calm down once in a while? Simply allowing yourself to unwind, feel at ease and enjoy a slower pace? Then we suggest you get a fire going in your wood stove or fireplace and take pleasure in looking at the flames, feeling the warmth on your skin and listening to the sound of the fire. Research shows that a log fire brings a sense of well-being and peace of mind, and helps carry you into a more relaxed and meditative state.
Watching flames has a relaxing effect
Christopher D. Lynn, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Alabama has tested a theory that a wood-burning fire has a relaxing effect on people. He measured the blood pressure and stress level of 226 participants before and after looking at a log fire. The findings of the study leave no doubt: Watching a log fire lowers the heart rate and blood pressure, promotes relaxation and reduces stress. The study also found that it has a beneficial effect on the nervous system and thus aids better sleep.
It will hardly come as a surprise to anyone who already has a wood burner and enjoys putting their feet up in front of a real fire on a dark autumn evening or cold winter day that relaxing in front of a crackling fire has clear health benefits. But now it has been scientifically proven once and for all!
Unwind with this exercise
The research report also concludes that the flames helped improve the participants’ ability to concentrate and focus. And what could be better than sitting in front of a crackling fire feeling completely at ease and enveloped in a sense of calmness and serenity? Here’s a simple three-step exercise that we can recommend:
Rest one hand on your stomach and slowly breathe in as deeply as you can through your nose. You will feel your stomach rise. Count to 4 as you are breathing in.
Hold your breath and count to 7.
Then breathe out through your mouth as you count to 8.
Repeat this 4 times and feel your body and mind going into sleep mode and any tension draining away. This is called the 4-7-8 breathing method and it was developed by the American doctor Andrew Weil and inspired by both yoga and meditation practices (source: NHI). If your chest expands more than your stomach, you have probably not got the breathing technique quite right. But not to worry... practice makes perfect!
Engage your senses in front of the fire
The research findings also show that when we experience the log fire with more than just one of our senses, it has a greater effect on our well-being. This accords completely withScan’s philosophy and product focus since its establishment in 1978.
The stove is a designer piece of furniture that has a natural place in most homes and provides comfortable warmth from a perfect flame. Large glass panes in the wood-burning stoves ensure maximum visibility - tailored for a high quality of life. In our laboratory, we are working continuously to make the combustion process more efficient and compliant with the strictest approval standards while extracting the maximum amount of heat out of each log.
Focus on sustainability
A Scan stove brings you not only great pleasure but also a fireplace strongly focused on sustainability and a circular economy. The products are designed to be long-lasting and repairable. And at the end of their useful life, the material can be recycled and then reused as raw materials. In this way, we make use of the same resources time after time and very little gets wasted.
Light your Scan stove with a clear conscience
When you know that a clean burning Scan wood stove and correct burning do not have an adverse impact on your carbon footprint, it feels even better to sink into your fireside armchair surrounded by your family or just you and a good book. Wood is a renewable resource and is considered carbon neutral according to organisations such as the state enterprise ENOVA, which is playing a key role in Norway’s transition to a low-emission society, andNorsk Varme, the trade association for stoves, fireplaces and chimneys in Norway.
In other words, a wood stove or fireplace from Scan is a good choice for you today and for future generations. Now that in itself is a warming thought!
