7 Healthy Effects Of Nature On Us
All human beings have a neurobiological connection with nature. Being in contact with her provides us with physical and mental well-being.
According to popular wisdom, being in contact with nature is beneficial for health.
Our body is related to the environment and is in permanent exchange with it. For example, our immune system is sensitive to the terpenes emitted by plants to protect itself.
Walking and enjoying certain landscapes reduces the secretion of stress hormones by half . And the mere fact of seeing the trees through the hospital window accelerates the recovery processes of the sick.
The 7 benefits of contact with nature
Terry Hartig, professor of psychology at the University of Uppsala (Sweden), has shown that after a 40-minute excursion through nature, intellectual skills are sharpened.
A walk around the city or resting at home does not achieve the same results. The longer and more natural and isolated the environment, the better the results.
Being in a natural environment, away from noise, consumerism … has a great health effect.
1. Nature always accepts us
Animals, plants or the earth do not ask us for anything, they accept us as we are : living beings among innumerable other forms of life.
Unfortunately, this does not always happen in other environments, where people tend to be classified and those who do not meet certain standards are not accepted.
2. We feel more free
We can be who we are: hardworking or lazy, sad or happy, fast or slow, introverted or extroverted, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly.
Nature welcomes us without judging us. “Allowing yourself to be as you are” is one of the most effective psychological healing effects.
3. Nature is a source of inspiration
It provides us with stimuli that take us away from routines (single thinking, conventions) and free creativity (it doubles, according to psychologists Paul and Ruth Ann Atchley, from the University of Kansas).
Everything we see can become an inspiration. In nature we rediscover ourselves.
4. Take distance
Our worries and problems seem more distant. We reconcile with the body and obsessions fade.
We also benefit from not having access to the internet, email, and social media.
5. A healthier state of consciousness
The natural environment modifies the way our mind works. When we move with all the senses open through the field, directed attention rests and is replaced by fascination.
It is a rest, a restoration that we often need, since the directed attention that work or learning requires of us causes fatigue and impulsive behaviors.
Environmental psychologists Rachel and Stephen Kaplan use stays in natural environments to treat hyperactivity and poor concentration. For the Kaplan, teachers should take into account the effect of the natural environment.
Richard Louv, author of Back to Nature (Ed. RBA), advocates initiating children in coexistence with nature.
6. The environment helps us heal
The cause of most diseases is unknown. They are the consequence of complex processes that do not happen only inside the body. The substances we ingest do not explain everything either.
What happens to us can be better explained if we take into account the environment with which we are closely related.
7. It opens us to more effective therapies
The human being does not end in the skin! We hardly know the details of the relationships with our living space and with other living beings. We are crossed by chemical and electromagnetic networks and surely by energies that we do not know.
Understanding the human being as part of the intricate web of life means opening perspectives to new preventive strategies and more effective therapies.
