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““Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving””
— Albert Einstein
Time Spent In Nature Is Healing - Here’s Why It’s Important

Time Spent In Nature Is Healing - Here’s Why It’s Important

Taya Bregant
Lifestyle

Because spring is the time where nature returns back to its vitality and bright colors along with the outdoor temperatures slowly starting to warm up again, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to write about how the time we spend outdoors in nature can be so beneficial and healing for us.

I have been recently inspired to write this from attending a gardening activity within my university where in groups we helped plant new plants, take care of existing plants all while building a community of nature enthusiasts.

I strongly believe that anyone can gain something good by interacting with nature and making an effort to every so often disconnect from our technological and material world and step into the environment which we all evolved from in the first place.

Practices such as these where you fully immerse yourself in natural settings are not new and have actually become a lot more popular due to the Japanese concept of “forest bathing”, which is also a subject we will be exploring today.

My Intention Today: To inform you about the many ways that spending quality time in nature can be very therapeutic and beneficial for your health as well as offer you advice on how to make this a more consistent practice. 🌿🌳

BENEFITS OF SPENDING TIME IN NATURE


You often hear people saw “Go get some fresh air” when someone is feeling anxious, angry or uninspired, and that is for good reason. More and more research is point out how such a simple solution as spending some time each day or week being immersed in nature can help our both our mental wellbeing as well as out physical health.

Mental benefits from spending time in nature

  • Boosting your mood (Releases feel good chemicals like endorphins and dopamine)

  • Increasing your mindful awareness

  • Reducing symptoms of depression

  • Reducing stress and anxiety by lowering cortisol

  • Higher self esteem and confidence levels

  • Lowers levels of anger

  • Reducing loneliness and isolation

  • Shifting your perspective

  • Enhancing spirituality and feelings of being connected to a larger whole

  • Restored capacity for concentration and attention

  • Improved ability to retrospect and reflect on an issue


Physical benefits from spending time in nature:

  • Lowering of blood pressure

  • Being able to breathe in cleaner air which lowers your risk of respiratory concerns

  • Reduced muscle tension

  • Allowing for higher quality sleep by exposing yourself to sunlight during the day

  • Possibly contributing to a higher pain tolerance

  • Improving your physical fitness by being more active

WHY DOES IT WORK?


  • It is proposed that time spent in nature benefits us due to the following reasons:

    • Cohesive nature: Our interaction with nature allow us to develop meaningful human relationships.

    • Formative nature: Our interaction with nature has an impact and influence on our mood, attitude, behaviors and even our values.

    • Satisfactive nature: When we interact with nature, we can feel that our expectations and needs are satisfied through our interactions with it.

    • Transcendent nature: Many people view nature as an anchor for their spirituality by experiencing benefits related to their religious or spiritual values after spending quality time in nature.

MAXIMIZING YOUR BENEFITS


  • A study from 2019 had shown that spending at least 2 hours a week outside in nature has been shown to have a significant boost and increase in your health and wellbeing also among elderly people and people with existing medical issues. The research also pointed out that these 2 hours can either be spent all in one go or in small chunks throughout the week where both will still yield the mental and physical benefits we previously discussed.

  • How to make the most of your time in nature?

    • Find a place you feel safe in: The point is to find a safe environment which will not further increase your stress.

    • Try your best to be present with your surroundings and your breath: Pay attention to your senses; the colors, sounds of birds or water, smells of flowers or soil etc.

    • Keep your phone to a minimum: We already spend so much of our time digitally connected so it is most useful if you do not use your phone when trying to connect with nature.

HOW TO DO THIS MORE OFTEN


  • Here I have prepared two lists of ideas, the first one being how you can make it easier and more likely for you to spend more time outdoors among greenery and the second one is more of a lifestyle approach about how you can bring more of nature into your own life. Therefore the first list is about going out into nature and the second one is about bringing nature to you.


How to spend more time in nature:

  • Performing more of your physical recreation outdoors - Walking, running, body weight exercises, bringing your exercise mat to a park, swimming in a lake or ocean etc.

  • Going outside with a friend

  • Taking breaks from working by going outside

  • Focusing on small actionable tasks (finding a near by park or green zone instead of having to drive out somewhere)

  • Visiting a large park, botanical garden or nature based site

  • Try out gardening as a hobby and growing some of your own produce

  • Going outside first thing in the morning (Also helps with waking you up)

  • Starting or taking part in a nature club

  • Taking part in a nature clean up activity (Such as collecting trash in natural sites)

  • Taking up a new nature based hobby (bird watching, gardening, hiking, fishing, camping, photography, horse riding etc.)

  • Possibly replacing your morning commute with a walk or bike ride instead of driving


How to bring more of nature into your everyday:

  • Having more plants in your home or on outdoor balconies/ terraces

  • Using more furniture made of natural materials (wood, stone, straw, clay, cotton, marble, cork, linen)

  • Using more earth tones for your home decorations (Muted yellows, browns, soft greens, blues and a variety of beiges and sandy/ clay colors)

  • Letting in natural sunlight if possible

  • Visiting local farmers or markets and getting closer to the primary producers of our food

  • Hanging up nature related artwork around your home

FOREST BATHING


Forest bathing also known as Shinrin-yoku is a concept and term originating from Japan around the time of 1980’s and is accredited to Dr. Qing Li who today is still an expert in forest medicine and immunology.

This practice consists of spending quality time outdoors and connecting and was developed for two main reasons at the time: 1) An antidote was needed for the tech burn out that the Japanese society was experiencing at the time and 2) Forest bathing wanted to inspire residents to further connect with and protect Japan’s local nature and green spaces.

The beautiful thing about forest bathing is it is highly individual and there is no exact way fo doing it right or wrong, but just based on what feels good and right to you in the moment when you are in a natural setting.

Forrest bathing can be done as simply as by being present in nature and taking note of the unique sounds, smells and sights that are present around you. It is meant to temporarily detach you from the fast paced modern world that is ever connected in technology and things to do and keep track off - A moment to take some time for yourself in peace.

🧠 KEY TERMS

  • Forrest bathing: A Japanese term (shinrin yoku), describing the process of bring calm and quiet among trees, while observing the natural wonders around you and focusing on deep relaxed breathing.

🔑 KEY POINTS

  • Several studies have shown that spending some time each day or week in a natural environment can improve both our mental and physical health in ways such as reducing symptoms of depression and lowering of stress levels as well as improving the quality of our breathing and sleep.

  • In order to reap these benefits, even just spending 2 hours per week within nature has been shown to help contribute to a better wellbeing where you can do so by choosing to move some of your exercise habits outside, inviting a friend to go on a forest walk or hike or even trying out activities such as gardening and photography which allow you to immerse yourself in the wonders that nature has to offer.

  • Some people like to practice what is called “Forrest bathing” which is aimed at disconnecting you from a fast paced and ultra connected lifestyle in turn for allowing you to notice and appreciate different aspects of nature that are around you such as the sounds of birds, the warm feeling of sunlight on your skin or the invigorating smell of a pine forrest.

✍🏽 REFERENCES

Turmeric - All The Reasons Why It’s Good For You

Turmeric - All The Reasons Why It’s Good For You
CBD - Does It Actually Work?

CBD - Does It Actually Work?

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