Green Therapy: How Nature Heals Our Minds and Bodies

 Recently, I went to the library and got a book called as nature fix. I feel like nature is something where I d not go very often because we live in a concrete jungle almost. Yes, there are parks but felt like I am personally not spending enough time in the parks. So I was wondering why am I not going in nature very often with the trees, the sun, the light, the flowers and the water bodies. Maybe it's because there's no planning of what I am going to do this weekend and that weekend. So okay, there needs to be planning but there was no intention of going in nature as well, because I did not know what are the mental and the physical health benefits of going in nature. So today, let's take a look at why going in nature is really important for our health. 

A very random picture I found on the internet. But let's dive deep into the benefits of nature. 

1. Anxiety, stress and depression: Thinking about it logically, I do know that caveman and our ancestors lived in forests within the trees. It's deep rooted in our dna. So I feel like our levels of anxiety, stress and depression will decrease when we go out in nature. My idea is that we were never meant to live in a concrete jungle that we live in right now. We were meant to be in nature. The more we stay in the concrete jungle, the more likely it is that we will experience stress. 

Science has proven that walking in nature reduces cortisols and increases serotonin and dopamine while involved in mood regulation. Higher levels of these hormones are associated with better mood regulation. Being in nature also increases endocannabinoid levels which is linked to relaxation and stress relief. The point here is that walking + being in nature only has a positive effect on your body and one must try to walk for 30 minutes every single day in nature preferably. 

2. Energy, feelings of vitality and focus: Now, when you go out in nature, you will find that the energy you have and the feelings of vitality and focus also increases. I believe this is because the stress levels decreasing and thus contributing towards the energy and feelings of vitality. One of the reason is that when you go out in nature, you tend to disconnect yourself from the work and the modern day stresses. Thus the amount of mental fatigue that you have decreases and lesser the mental fatigue greater is the energy. Moreover, when you walk the blood flow in your body increases, there's more oxygen when you are near the trees so the oxygen levels improve as well. Moreover, when the blood flow increases, the blood flow will also go more to the brain thus making your cognitive abilities better. Additionally, there's natural light also so your circadian rythm remains regulated well enough thus giving you better sleep which improves energy and vitality in turn. There's something called as the biophilia hypothesis, that suggests that humans have a connection with nature and being immersed in nature will give you a sense of connection and restoration which will boost your energy. 

3. Creative thinking, concentration and attention: As we discussed previously, we spoke about how the blood flow to the brain increases. This fires up more neurons and thus you are able to think more creatively. When we go in nature, nature allows us to relax and open up our brain thus the creative thinking and the problem-solving abilities improve. A 2012 study led by Ruth Ann Atchley, for example, showed that participants who spent several days hiking in nature performed better on creative problem-solving tasks compared to those who spent the same amount of time in an urban environment. This is because nature provides a break from the structured, task-oriented thinking that tends to dominate our daily lives.

4. Sleep quality: Sleep quality improves because nature helps us regulate our circadian rhythm. As we have already spoken about this, there's no point to discuss this further that nature does help when it comes to improving your sleep quality. 

5. Coping skills and grief process: Generally, when we talk about grief, it's usually something that has happened in the past. So my thought process is that nature helps your mind come back to the present. Now, when your mind is in the present moment, you naturally cope up with the grief that you had previously. That's my reasoning. 

6. Self-awareness and self-concept:  When we go in nature, it's very natural for us to self-reflect there. We might think about what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong. This increases your  self-awareness and you would be aware about what your thoughts, what you are feeling about the world, and also what changes we need to make in our habits and in our life. It also grows our connection to something larger than ourselves. First of all when you look at nature, you are in awe and you realise that no individual in the world is greater than the nature. A natural calamity can destroy the wealthiest of people and the poorest of people as well. In a way, nature is a great leveller, it makes sure that our egos remain in check and we remain humble to life itself. Because the force of nature is greater than anything else in the world. This also gives us more emotional balance and acceptance to the force of life and nature. 

7. Kindness and the way you treat others: When I spoke about a reduction in stress previously, we need to understand that stress also increases impatience, irritability and reduces our ability to empathize with others. So because stress decreases, patience increases and so does our ability to empathize increases. 

Action Step: Go walk in the park for 10 minutes to begin with and then keep increasing your time by 5 minutes everyday and see how you feel and what kind of things change. Once done document how you feel everyday and what changes do you see in yourself.