In these special times it can happen that the walls are coming your way or that you need some change. Do you notice that your mood is increasingly bothering you or are you getting more grumpy? Research suggests that mood disorders can be remedied by spending more time outdoors in nature.
Looking for an easy way to reduce stress, anxiety and depression and maybe even improve your memory? Take a walk in the woods.
"Many men are at greater risk for mood disorders as they age, coping with sudden life changes such as health problems, the loss of loved ones and even the new world of retirement."
This says Dr. Jason Strauss, director of geriatric psychiatry at Harvard-affiliated Cambridge Health Alliance.
Your brain, negative emotions and nature
Research in a growing scientific field called ecotherapy has shown a strong link between time spent in nature and reduced stress, anxiety and stress depression.
It is not clear exactly why outdoor excursions have such a positive mental effect. Still, in a 2015 study, researchers compared the brain activity of healthy people after walking for 90 minutes in a natural or urban environment. They found that those who took a nature walk had lower activity in the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain that is active during “rumination” - defined as repetitive thoughts that focus on mostly negative emotions.
When people are depressed or under high stress, this part of the brain does not function properly and people experience a continuous loop of negative thoughts.
If we dig a little deeper, it turns out that interacting with natural spaces offers other therapeutic benefits. For example, calming nature sounds and even outdoor silence can lower blood pressure and lower the stress hormone cortisol, which calms the body's fight-or-flight response.
Visual aspects of nature
The visual aspects of nature can also have a calming effect. Having something nice to focus on, such as trees and greenery, helps to distract your mind from negative thinking so that your mind becomes less filled with worry.
Bring the outdoors of nature indoors
If you can't get outside, listening to nature sounds can have a similar effect, suggests a report published online by Scientific Reports on March 27, 2017. Researchers used an MRI scanner to measure brain activity in humans while listening for sounds recorded from natural or artificial environments.
Listening to natural sounds caused the listener's brain connectivity to reflect an outward focus of attention, a process that takes place during wakeful rest periods such as daydreaming.
Listening to artificial sounds created an inward focus, which occurs during states of anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Even looking at photos of nature reserves, your favorite place or a place you would like to visit can help.
Find your space as often as you can
But how much time with nature is enough? Anything from 20 to 30 minutes, three days a week, to regular three-day weekends in the woods is helpful. The point is that your interactions with nature become part of your normal lifestyle.
Your time with nature can be something as simple as a daily walk in a park or a Saturday afternoon on a local hiking trail. You can even try to combine your outings with your regular exercise by power walking, running directly with walking the dog, or going outside for a bike ride.
The type of natural environment doesn't really matter. Concentrate on places that are most comfortable for you. The goal is to get away from the huge stimulating urban environments with continuous stimuli and surround yourself with a natural environment.
And you don't even have to go it alone. A 2014 study found that group nature walks were just as effective as solo treks in terms of reducing depression and stress and improving overall mental outlook.
In fact, the researchers noted that people who had recently experienced stressful life events, such as a serious illness, the death of a loved one, or unemployment, received the greatest mental boost from a group nature outing. Nature can have a powerful effect on our mental state and there are many ways to take advantage of it.
Sources ao Foodspring (link), Harvard (link), Newscientist (link), WebMD (link)
