Nature and Wellbeing
Well-being is how good you feel and how well you’re functioning. Right now, I’m guessing a lot of people don’t feel great and aren’t functioning at their best. When talking about well-being, it’s important to remember that basic needs have to be met first. If your income or health need your focus, worrying about well-being is just more you don’t need to deal with. However, if your basic needs are met but, because of factors outside your control, you don’t feel good or you’re struggling with your sense of purpose, I have a possible solution: nature.
Photo by Lukasz Szmigiel on Unsplash
This is hardly news. In Japan, a national health programme for forest-bathing was introduced in 1982. Since then, Japan’s Forest Therapy Study Group have proved that spending time in forests can boost the immune system, reduce stress and improve sleeping habits. The best results seem to come about from just two hours in a forest, regardless of what physical activity takes place there.
It’s not just Japan either. Since 2018, doctors in Scotland have been able to prescribe nature to their patients. I recommend checking out the leaflet of nature suggestions too. Some are specific to the Shetlands, but many can be done anywhere.
Here are a few of my favourites:
Step outside – be still for three minutes and listen
Find a bud on a tree... feel the texture
Turn o’er a rock and see what’s there
Solitude in nature clarifies thought – carve out some time to yourself and
go explore somewhere you’ve never been before
Listen and copy a bird sound – try “talking” to a bird
Appreciate a cloud
Getting UK participants to rank their happiness and share their location, the Mappiness project discovered “On average, study participants are significantly and substantially happier outdoors in all green or natural habitat types than they are in urban environments.“ If you’re able to travel and there’s a nearby park or nature reserve, give it a visit. You’ll feel better as a result.
According to the National Human Activity Pattern Survey, US citizens only spend 7% of their time outdoors. That’s not necessarily time spent in nature either. Right now, with Covid-19 putting people in lockdown, we’re even less likely to be outdoors. In Wisconsin, where I live, you can still go outside for exercise, so long as you observe social distancing. My favourite park runs alongside a river. It’s one of my favourite things to stop and look at the water for a while.
This pandemic is also highlighting the deep inequalities baked into the systems of our everyday life. I’m extremely fortunate to have a home with a garden and live in a city with accessible and high quality parks. Not everyone can step out their home and into a green space. Fortunately, there’s evidence to suggest that just looking at images of nature can reduce stress.
So do yourself a favour, instead of watching another episode of Tiger King, take yourself outside and appreciate a cloud.
