Although many enjoy balanced, healthy lifestyles, we’re very disconnected from nature. Like most people, you spend a lot of time staring at screens – on your computer, watching TV, scrolling through your smartphone, driving your car, and working at your desk.
You don't often venture outside. Even though you may be aware that this is unhealthy, you lack the time and energy to change. You like being outside, whether going for a run or meeting a buddy at a restaurant that was outside.
You naturally feel wonderful when there are gentle breezes and a beautiful sunset. When you are mindful, even a little walk around the block can nourish your senses. Your soul can be calmed, and equilibrium can be restored, at least temporarily, by the sounds of birds chirping, the sight of blossoming flowers, and a cloud procession.
Do all you can to maintain a connection to nature in whatever manner you can. Even if your only connection with it is a flower subscription, it’ll still help. It's a lovely route to better well-being. Ecopsychology is an emerging science that examines how people interact with the natural environment.
The Benefits of Nature
According to studies, being in nature may help you feel more relaxed, happier, and more energized overall. It can also help you be more compassionate. We're here to remind you of nature's many advantages for your daily lifestyle.
Boosting Your Mood
There's a reason why stepping outside on a warm, bright day is such a terrific way to make yourself smile. Vitamin D, which is found in sunlight and is nutritious and revitalizing, has been shown to treat conditions like SAD (seasonal affective disorder) by enhancing mood and calming the nervous system.
Additionally, taking the right quantity of vitamin D can reduce the risk of hypertension, cancer, and several autoimmune illnesses. Vitamin D also helps the body absorb calcium.
Staying Energized
Studies say that a walk in the woods is better than a double espresso to help you get through an afternoon slump. According to a series of research in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, being in nature even for 20 minutes a day had increased subjects' energy levels and improved their general mood.
Staying Present
You may concentrate on the here and now by stepping outside and unplugging from regular life. In essence, spending time in nature helps you be present, calm your thoughts, and take in the sights, sounds, and fragrances that are all around you but that you may not have taken the time to notice recently.
A simple meditation technique that might reduce tension and anxiety is to focus on the current moment rather than the past or the future.
Connecting With Your Spiritual Side
Connecting with nature may have a profoundly spiritual component that can help us develop a greater sense of ourselves. Even though we’re a part of a world far bigger than we can fathom, we may nevertheless find solace in the immense surroundings. Reconnect by doing something as easy as putting your toes in the surf or strolling barefoot across a mossy woodland floor.
Being Naturally Kinder
According to studies, people tend to feel more charitable, a part of their community, and socially conscious. People's connections to other living beings were strengthened by gazing at nature photographs, which in turn served as a reminder of fundamental principles like generosity and compassion.
How to Include Nature More
By including more nature in your life, you may put this recent study into practice in the following ways:
Daily Outdoor Time
Commit to spending 20 minutes each day outside—hiking, walking, gardening, sitting or practicing meditation. Do all you decide to do attentively. Engage all of your senses, have an open mind while you take in your environment, and be grateful for all that’s helping to soothe your body, soul, and mind.
Decorate With Plants
Place a houseplant in your office or where you spend a lot of time. Research found that adding a plant to a hospital room shortened hospital stays, decreased the need for pain medication, and decreased the unfavorable remarks nurses made in patients' records.
Enjoy the View
Studies have indicated that people who view nature rather than a developed environment recover more quickly in hospitals and are more energized at work. Try to spend most of your time in a room with a view of the outdoors while at home or work. If this isn't possible, you may add your favorite nature image as a screen saver to your computer or smartphone and hang pictures of the outdoors.
Enjoy Nature Retreats
You'll undoubtedly feel refreshed, revitalized, and ready to tackle your goals if you take some time off, relax, and spend some time in nature while meditating, eating well, and sleeping well. According to new research in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research's January edition, meditation retreats can improve quality of life and reduce stress, anxiety, and despair.
Nature in Your Food
It should go without saying that if something doesn't come from the soil, your body won't respond positively to it. If you don't have access to nature daily, consider putting it inside your body. Consume foods that are readily accessible in nature and shop for organic foods at the supermarket.
If you can, grow your own veggies so you may enjoy the advantages of a good diet, time in nature, and exercise. This is even better.
Exercise Outdoors
You may reap the health advantages of exercise and being in nature when you move your body outside. Additionally, some studies indicate that outdoor exercise improves mood more than inside exercise by reducing perceived exertion.
Remember that green space may be found in city parks, gardens, or even plain open spaces with grass, so you don't need to go by car or airplane to a forest or mountainside to enjoy these health advantages.
Get Your Daily Nature Dosage
Gaining the benefits of nature's healing abilities requires making a conscious decision to include more of it in your life. Spend some time potting plants, resting in your backyard, or planting in your garden. Consider putting down your devices or book to truly pay attention to the sights, sounds, textures, and scents around you.
When it's time to resume operations, remember that even life management tasks, including paying bills, may frequently be completed outside. Try to eat outside to nourish your body and spirit. Bring a little bit of the outdoors inside when you aren't able to spend as much time outside.
Add a desktop water fountain and indoor plants to your house or place of business. Studies have indicated that having indoor plants helps lessen headaches and weariness and that hearing the sound of running water can have a relaxing impact.
