Nature is really good medicine. Science can explain why.

Doctors don’t usually prescribe spending time in nature to their patients, but maybe they should.

A solid body of research shows that being in green spaces such as parks, woodlands, forests, mountains, and the like is beneficial to people’s physical and mental well-being. Less well known are the benefits of frequenting oceans, lakes and rivers.

A report called Green and blue spaces and mental health released by the World Health Organization shows that time spent in nature, including both urban and peri-urban areas, improves mood, mindset and mental health. Research shows that exposure to forests, parks, gardens or coastlines can even mitigate the psychological impact of climate change, support physical activity and provide opportunities for social interaction and places to relax and leave everyday stress behind for a bit’.

When you think about our relationship with nature, it reminds us that we’re grounded in the natural world, as a species, says Patricia Hasbach, a psychotherapist and ecopsychologist in Eugene, Oregon. We were walking home when we enter blue spaces or green spaces. It promotes the feeling of being part of something bigger than ourselves.

There are many ways that nature benefits our psychological and physical health. A recent study surveying more than 16,000 people in 18 countries found that people who live in greener or coastal areas reported higher overall positive well-being. Furthermore, those who frequently frequented green spaces or blue spaces (along the coast or inland) for recreational purposes felt better and suffered less mental discomfort.

Another study published last year in Occupational and environmental medicine found that people who visit green spaces five or more times a week have significantly lower use of psychotropic, antihypertensive and asthma medications than those who spend less time in nature.

The mind-body benefits don’t stop there.

restorative elements

While researchers have not made a direct comparison of the benefits of green and blue spaces, there is plenty of evidence to support the mental health benefits of both settings. Research has shown, for example, that the Japanese practice of forest bathing (also known as Shinrin-yoku), which involves walking slowly through a forest and inhaling fragrant substances called phytoncides that are released from trees, reduces blood pressure. of people, relieves depressive symptoms and improves their mental health.

An analysis published last year, based on people from 18 countries, found that adults with better mental health are more likely to report spending time playing in coastal and inland waters as children. Previous searches found that people living in homes overlooking blue space in the city of Wellington, New Zealand, had lower levels of psychological distress than those whose homes have visible green spaces.

There are many possible biological mechanisms behind the benefits of exposure to green or blue natural environments. One explanation is that these benefits likely stem from what’s called the attention restoration theory, which proposes that exposure to nature helps ease mental fatigue and improves your ability to focus, explains Marc Berman, an environmental neuroscientist and professor associate of psychology at the University of Chicago. Human beings have two types of attention directed attention, which is the one we use at work and is the type of attention that is fatiguable or depletable, and involuntary attention which is automatically caught up in interesting things in the environment and is not fatiguable.

In fact, a study in a 2019 issue of the journal Frontiers in psychology found that after children took a 30-minute walk in a natural environment with rolling grass fields, farmland, and forest areas, they had a faster and more stable pattern of responding to a series of attention-related tests than to when they walked in an urban area.

In addition to catching your involuntary attention, spending time in nature can elicit what’s called a soft fascination, a nonthreatening and pleasant experience that’s interesting but doesn’t demand your full attention. This way, your mind can wander and you can think about things at the same time, says Berman. When people are in nature, they tend to think about topics related to spirituality and their life path.

Another explanation for why nature has an almost medicinal effect on the mind and body is called the biophilia hypothesis, which suggests that humans have an innate desire to connect with nature and other life forms.

Smells, sights and sounds soothe our senses

In a natural setting, it’s not just the colors blue and green that relax; even the shapes of objects can be comforting, notes Berman. Research has found, for example, that observing natural fractals complex patterns that repeat on varying size scales in nature (ferns, flowers, mountains, or ocean waves) induces increased alpha wave activity in the brain (measured with electroencephalograms, EEG), which is associated with a relaxed but alert state and internalized attention.

When we were in the wild, we generally operated at a different pace, says Hasbach, author of Grounded: A guided journal to help you reconnect with the power of nature and yourself. It allows for sensory stimulation, allowing us to absorb what we see, hear, smell and feel. It helps us to be fully present.

We also associate natural sights and sounds with key resources—there’s an evolutionary basis for this, says Amber Pearson, a health geographer and associate professor in Michigan State University’s department of public health. When birds are silent, it is often a sign of danger. We could take it back.

The flip side is also true: People find solace in the many sounds of nature. A meta-analysis co-authored by Pearson and published in 2021 looked at the health benefits of exposure to natural bird and animal sounds, wind and water at national park sites and found that they were associated with reduced stress and annoyance , decreased pain and improved Mood. The sounds of water were connected with the greatest boost to positive moods; while bird sounds had the most significant impact on reducing stress and annoyance.

Another noteworthy aspect of spending time in nature is what Not there: traffic and noise. A review of studies, published last year in Environmental research, examined the role of exposure to green spaces in the prevention of anxiety and depression in adolescents and young adults, ages 14 to 24. The most surprising conclusion? The absence of noise and the restorative qualities of green spaces promote mindfulness and disrupt harmful rumination. Exposure in turn reduces the risk of anxiety disorders and depression.

On another sensory level, researchers have found that inhaling volatile organic compounds such as limonene and pinene while in a forest can reduce mental fatigue, induce relaxation, and improve cognitive performance and mood.

When people spend time outdoors, it’s often while walking, jogging, cycling, or gardening. In these cases, the combination of movement and natural scenery can double the benefits. For example, a study in a 2020 issue of the journal Environmental research found that after office workers walked 20 minutes a day in a blue space, they experienced significant improvements in their mood and sense of well-being compared to walking the same amount of time in an urban space.

Nature’s recipe

While studies recommend at least two hours a week in green and blue spaces, even a few minutes outdoors can improve mood and cognitive function, says Eileen Anderson, a medical and psychological anthropologist and professor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School. of Medicine of Cleveland. Remembering to seize the small opportunities and absorb longer times whenever possible can help your mind, body, and spirit.

To that end, it’s a good idea to take breaks in nature to regroup and refresh your mind, such as strolling in a nearby park or garden during lunchtime. While there, tune in to the sights, sounds, scents, and other sensory experiences. If you can find environments that don’t challenge your directed attention and that stimulate your indirect attention, you can restore your focus and mental energy, Berman says. The more you can take breaks and go out into nature, the better.

To help yourself when you can’t get outside, you can bring elements from green and blue spaces into your home and reap similar benefits, says Hasbach. To that end, you can incorporate green, fractal plants (with a vase of flowers or a bowl of pine cones, for example) or photographs or paintings of nature or coastal scenes into your home. Likewise, you can bring the aromas of the natural world into your home, with scented flowers or essential oils such as lavender, rose, lemon or rosemary.

If your home is near a wooded area, park, garden, or the ocean, consider opening your windows and invite in the soothing sounds of birdsong or surf. the ocean or other elements of nature into your home, experts suggest.

What’s especially promising is how dynamic the outdoors impact our brains, Anderson says. Even if nature hasn’t been a part of someone’s life, it’s never too late to add nature experiences to your life to enhance well-being.

Readers, do you take breaks in nature? Do you find they help you? Let us know!