I’ve always loved walking, from the time I was a little kid. But there have been periods in my life when I barely walked because of my urban lifestyle and environment. Which is quite unnatural considering that we human beings were designed to walk. Luckily, two years ago, we got a dog, and being an early-bird, I was the one who ended up doing most of the morning walks. We were still living in Dubai at the time, where dog walking can unfortunately not be done in parks or along the beach. So whilst it physically felt good to walk and to be alone with my thoughts, street-walking wasn’t a huge game-changer in terms of my overall well being. And I didn’t realize this until we moved back to France, in a slightly more rural part of the country, where I started walking along little winding roads in the green hills or the trails in the woods. Not only did it feel completely different during the walk, but I started suspecting that it was doing wonders for my health in general (and the dog’s). I began feeling calmer, my metabolism improved, I had more energy, started sleeping better, etc. It could also just be the change of scenery, wonderful produce, great wine, cheese and baguette. But I was sure my time spent walking amongst my friends the trees had a role to play.
So I decided to do some research. And I saw a HUGE number of studies made on the scientific benefits of spending time in nature. So much so that I had to share some of these with you. I know it isn’t possible for everyone to walk daily in a forest, but given all the good it can do to you, you may want to try and fit that stroll in the park into your schedule a little more often. And if you are in confinement and cannot go outside physically right now, then bring nature to you and get some plants. The closer you get to greenery the better.
Spending time in nature gives your immune system a major boost
When we walk in the woods or in a place where there are a lot of trees, we breathe in phytoncides, which are antifungal and antibacterial chemicals that plants produce to fight off insects. When we breathe these in, it boosts the activity of our natural killer cells (NK). These cells kill tumor and virus-infected cells. In one Japanese study, they found increased NK activity from a 3-day, 2-night forest bathing trip lasted for more than 30 days. In fact, in Japan, “forest-bathing”, called “Shinrinyoku”(spending an extended period of time in the forest), is seen as a form of aromatherapy.
Nature nurtures: spending time in nature lowers your stress levels
Our stress hormones aren’t meant to be chronically high, but these days – with our busy connected lives where we spend many hours a day on our phones or in front of a laptop – a growing number of people are experiencing high cortisol levels and we are seeing a higher occurrence of adrenal fatigue due to this. A ton of research studies show that spending time in natural environments can help combat stress levels. According to this study, just a twenty-minute nature experience was enough to significantly reduce cortisol levels.
Walking in nature helps you improve focus and memory
Spending time in nature seems to be very much a mindfulness practice and shares some of its benefits. It gives the cognitive part of our brain a rest, which allows us to focus better and be more patient. According to this study (and many others), observing plants, water, birds and other aspects of nature has a restorative effect on the mind. Another study shows that participants with depression exhibited significant increases in memory span after a nature walk relative to an urban walk.
It lowers your blood pressure
This has been proven time and time again. Spending time doing activities outdoors lowers one’s blood pressure. In this study, multivariate analyses revealed that “a longer duration of individual nature experiences was significantly linked to a lower prevalence of high blood pressure.”
Nature is good for your mental health
This is a big one. Over and over again, research has found that walking in nature can decrease blood flow of blood to areas of the brain associated with mental illness. One interesting study was also done on people living in London, and found that “there could be significant benefits derived from living on a street with a high tree density”. They discovered that areas with the greatest density of trees had the lowest rates of antidepressant prescriptions. This link held up even when confounds like socioeconomic status were taken into account.
