Nature is all around us; it’s the trees that we see on the path to work, but we walk past them like any other day, without paying attention to them because we are absorbed in our routine and in our thoughts. We are always checking our phones or putting on headphones, isolating ourselves more and more from nature. We are disconnected.
When COVID-19 hit the world, the disconnect became clear, with people being confined to their homes, unable to go outside. The thing we once took for granted was taken away from us. At that moment, people realized the importance of going outside for their mental and physical health.
Nature isn’t just this aesthetic thing to look at; it goes deeper than that, and, in this post, we will go through all the benefits nature has to offer for your health!
Mental health benefits
If you ever feel stressed about your job or any relevant issue, take a stroll around nature! The good thing is you don’t have to go for a strenuous hike to benefit from nature’s remedy. Indeed, a 20-min walk in nature will do the job. It lowers your cortisol levels, according to one study that measured salivary levels of cortisol in participants before and after going into nature.
But it goes beyond that; nature immersion doesn’t just leave you feeling less tense but also boosts your mood, reduces anxiety, and lowers the risk of depression.
Additionally, nature improves cognitive functioning and, particularly, attentional functioning through the recovery of attention fatigue due to our overly stimulating environment.
Physical health benefits
Immersing yourself in nature also has benefits for your physical health. It can lower blood pressure and heart rate, having protective effects on cardiovascular diseases.
Also, it has been demonstrated that people who frequently engage in nature visits have higher levels of immune cells, such as natural killer cells, and molecules associated with a well-functioning immunity compared to those who don’t.
In relation to stress, being in nature also helps regulate the autonomic nervous system. It increases the parasympathetic activity, which is associated with relaxing activities, and on the other hand, lowers sympathetic activity associated with taking action.
In addition, bathing in nature has beneficial effects on sleep. Sleep quality, depth, and sleep time were improved after 2 hours of nature immersion.
Your outlook on nature matters !
While nature offers many benefits, your outlook on nature might have consequences on how much you can gain from it. In a study, they found that people who were more connected to nature benefitted more from its effects than those who were less connected to it.
Grounding
If you want to take it a step further, you can go grounding. Grounding refers to the direct contact of the skin with the ground, to put it simpler it’s going barefoot. When the skin touches the ground, free electrons from the earth’s surface spread into the body and have an anti-inflammatory effect. This effect can be observed through infrared imaging; for example, in the picture above, at the beginning, a lot of areas are colored red, which indicates inflammation in those areas. A few days later, after grounded sleep, the affected areas turned back to normal, which can be seen in the infrared images.
Conclusion
Nature proves to be an accessible tool for improving both mental and physical health. There’s no excuse for not spending time in nature; any duration is better than nothing and it’s free. Also, you don’t have to spend hours in nature to benefit from its powers. Lastly, try to improve your connection to nature to improve its effects.
References
Zhang Z, Ye B, Yang W, Gao Y. Effect of Nature Space on Enhancing Humans’ Health and Well-Being: An Integrative Narrative Review. Forests [Internet]. 2024 Jan 4;15(1):100. Available from: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/15/1/100
Oschman J, Chevalier G, Brown R. The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Journal of Inflammation Research [Internet]. 2015 Mar 1;83. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4378297/
Schertz KE, Berman MG. Understanding nature and its cognitive benefits. Current Directions in Psychological Science [Internet]. 2019 Jun 24;28(5):496–502. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419854100
Chang CC, Lin BB, Feng X, Andersson E, Gardner J, Astell-Burt T. A lower connection to nature is related to lower mental health benefits from nature contact. Scientific Reports [Internet]. 2024 Mar 20;14(1). Available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-56968-5
Hunter MR, Gillespie BW, Chen SYP. Urban nature experiences reduce stress in the context of daily life based on salivary biomarkers. Frontiers in Psychology [Internet]. 2019 Apr 4;10. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00722