7 Insights about Nature-Based Mental Health
I was excited to attend a webinar recently that was called Nature-Based Mental Health: A New Frontier, presented through The Healthy Ocean Coalition and Center for Nature-Informed Therapy. Nature-informed therapy is a therapeutic approach, harnessing the power of Nature using evidence based modalities, according to speaker, Phillip McKnight. I learned so much and was so inspired that I immediately crafted my nature-based self-care plan, which I am now implementing.
My main takeaways were:
- Sustained Relationship: Being in right relationship with Nature through the Eco-Conscious Model by Dr. Kimmerer guides us to have intentional relationships with the natural world, to appreciate Nature’s gifts and to give the gifts of our presence and gratitude.
- Comfort: We can learn about comfort from Nature in two ways. Spending time in Nature improves our ability to tolerate distress, making us more resilience. And, human rewilding means we can spend time in Nature to get back to our hunter-gatherer roots – we are wired to be in Nature all the time, not stuck in buildings.
- Using all our senses: When in Nature, we can harness positive mental health benefits through sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. For example, seeing the color green relaxes our eyes, and seeing patterns like fractals can reduce our stress by up to 60%.
- 3-day Wilderness Effect: Being out in Nature, immersed for 3 or more days improves our creative problem-solving capacity by up to 50%.
- Nature Doses: We need quick, repeated “doses” of Nature through walks, green spaces like parks to gaze at, being outside listening to birdsong, being close to water bodies, and so on.
- Restorative Effects: Being outside in Nature restores our memory and concentration, lessening fatigue and symtoms of ADHD.
- Awe: The science shows that when we experience awe in Nature, our mental and physical health improves significantly, including lowered anxiety, depression and PTSD, and lowered physical stress, fewer headaches, better cardiovascular health, and improved longevity.
Knowing what you know, how might you bring more outdoor time into your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly activities?
