With the fast rhythm of urban areas, our day-to-day life in the city tends to be fast paced and busy, which can be stressful and overwhelming. The solution? Taking a break from it.
Tending to your mental state is important for many reasons. Your mental health can reflect in your overall physical health, so your body can suffer from mental stress too. On the other hand, being in a good mental state has been proven to increase overall quality of life and productivity. One of the many options you have in order to improve your mental health is to reconnect with nature.
Research has shown that spending time in nature can make us happier, reduce anxiety levels, improve attention, and lower the risk of mental disorders. It doesn’t have to be a full day trip in a faraway place. Even going for a short walk in the park can have a great impact on your mood. This is because spending time in a nature setting is associated with a drop in cortisol levels, which is a stress hormone. Scientists have proposed that the reason behind this is found in the way of life of our ancestors, who relied on the natural environment for survival, so we have an inborn drive to connect with nature.
According to the American Psychological Association, there are also cognitive benefits associated with spending time in natural settings. For example, having green spaces close to schools can improve the children’s cognitive development. Adults living in public housing units located in neighbourhoods with a greater green area surface proved to have better attentional functioning compared to those living in places that have limited access to natural environments. Moreover, it has been shown that being exposed to green environments is associated with improved working memory, cognitive flexibility and attentional control, whereas being exposed to urban environments is linked to attention deficits.
Now that the benefits are clear, here are some suggestions to put all this in practice. Of course, the ideal option would be taking a few days for a nature get-away whenever we feel overwhelmed. But that’s usually not possible. Luckily that doesn’t prevent reconnecting with nature! It doesn’t have to be a big retreat. Even as little as a 10-minute walk in the park can already have a great influence on improving your well-being. Paying close attention to your surroundings and engaging your senses is a good mindfulness practice. While in nature, observe the colours of the trees, the sounds of nature, and how the fresh air feels. Gardening is another great option to reconnect with nature, plus you get to make your surroundings greener. Lastly, try to take a break from technology by being present in your surroundings with all your senses and without the distraction of your screens.