Healthytarian Minutes with holistic teacher Evita Ochel. This episode explores how time in nature helps to reduce stress and optimize our health and wellbeing.
To learn effective stress solutions and relieve your stress and anxiety, take the MAP Yoga Path online video course.
Video Transcript
Spending time in nature on a daily or regular basis will provide you with one of the most effective ways of reducing the effects of stress on your body and mind. The positive effects of nature transform our brain and body based on what we are seeing, hearing, and experiencing, which changes our mood, as well as our nervous, hormone, immune and other body responses.
Natural environments help to improve our thinking and reasoning, resilience, empathy, wellbeing, and enhance our sense of belonging. They help to reduce anxiety, muscle tension, high blood pressure and stress hormones.
To start enjoying these benefits, find natural environments you can access easily and frequently. These can include your backyard, local parks, and state parks, or any area that has a lot of natural elements, like flowers, trees, mountains or water, as opposed to man- made parts.
The very act of being surrounded by nature is healing in and of itself, so there is nothing specific you need to do when you get there. You can sit, relax and enjoy the natural sights, sounds and smells, or you can engage in some pleasant physical activity such as walking, hiking or canoeing. You can also enjoy interacting with nature via bird watching or nature photography. The most important thing is to prioritize some time and commit to engage in the healing beauty of nature during all seasons.
Further Reading
- Article: How Does Nature Impact Our Wellbeing?
- Article: Research Shows Nature Helps with Stress
- Article: 62 Beneficial Effects of Nature for Healing
- Book: Your Brain on Nature by Eva Selhub and Alan Logan
Comments, Questions & Feedback
To share any comments, questions or feedback, please visit the video page on YouTube.