Spend Time With Nature and Enjoy These Benefits
Being in nature is one of the most incredible feelings. That is why it is recommended to spend time with nature to benefit your general well-being.
What can you get when you get from nature? And how does it affect your mental health? Here’s what you need to know.
How Nature Affects Our Health
Many cultures believe that when you spend time with nature, you allow the surroundings to heal you. In Japan, there is a practice known as Shinrin-yoku or what is popularly known as forest bathing [1].
According to research, practicing this has proven beneficial to your optimum nervous system, reduces bowel disorders, and balances your heart conditions.
Meanwhile, in Australia, studies showed that children who spend more time outside with nature have better vision than those who spend more time with gadgets. That said, it is essential to spend time with nature to improve your general well-being.
6 Ways Spending Time with Nature Benefits You
Spending time with Mama Nature is one of the natural ways to release stress. Taking time off from your everyday work is essential if you want to recharge. Here’s how you can benefit from it:
1. Nature can heal you
Nature offers you a wide variety of places to see and explore. According to studies, nature scenes can help reduce your fears, anger, stress, and general unpleasant feelings.
Patients with surgeries exposed to natural light are also found to heal faster than those without. They also took fewer pain medications after spending more time with nature.
Exposure to nature makes you feel better, reducing your blood pressure, muscle tensions, heart rate, and even the production of hormones that causes you stress. Research shows that placing a plant in the room even lessens your stress and anxieties, so what more if you spend time with nature?
2. Nature soothes you
When we feel pain, nature has a way of soothing us. A study found that patients who can see a view of trees in their room can tolerate pain better and have fewer adverse effects. They also spend lesser time in the hospital. This effect is the same for patients with plants inside their hospital rooms.
3. Nature improves your concentration
Our work makes use of technology and interaction with people. Both of which can be stressful and overwhelming. Disconnecting yourself from the fast-paced world and spending time with nature can help improve your focus. Take time to unwind and get away from overstimulation. Nature will help you feel recharged and ready again to face another day.
4. Nature help you lose weight
While this is not magic, nature can help you lose much-needed weight. Walking, hiking or trekking in nature can make you sweat. It makes exercising enjoyable and less stressful too. Regularly hiking to your favorite nature spot can improve your weight over time. Spending time at higher grounds or altitudes can also enhance your appetite and metabolism.
5. Nature strengthens you
Spending time in nature can help strengthen your immune system. According to studies in Japan, women who spent at least six hours for two days in the woods had increased white blood cells, which help fight viruses. It also improves your mental health by reducing feelings of depression. Walking in the woods, near lakes or rivers can also lift your moods and boost serotonin production.
6. Nature connects people
A study showed that people who live in public housing with trees and green space around their area are reported to know more people. They also have stronger feelings of unity with their neighbors and are more supportive than those who belong to buildings without trees.
These people also have a greater sense of community, reduced risk of street crime, violence, and aggression towards their partners, and can cope better in life even though they live in poverty.
In Closing
Spending too much time on screens can be fatal. Taking time off and breaking away from the hustle of life to be with nature is essential. A good balance between work and play is also vital to your well-being. So, make sure to find your way back to nature, and recharge yourself – spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically!
