There are many benefits from exposure to the outdoors. The presence of nature often shows benefits in mood and focus. People are normally happier, more energetic, and less stressed after a positive encounter with nature. Not only will the outdoors improve your health, it won't cost you a penny! There are parks, tracks, beaches and many other fun places that promote physical activity, are free and widely accessible for anyone to use.
Traditional Healing
From India’s Ayurvedic medicine to traditional Chinese medicine, many ancient medical systems promoted the importance of nature. In many cultures, nature itself is regarded as a form of medicine. The idea that nature itself can influence psychological well-being was mostly untested in a scientific way until 1979, when behavioral scientist Roger S. Ulrich examined the mental influence of nature scenes on stressed students. His psychological testing demonstrated differences in mental states and outlooks after the students viewed various environmental scenes. These nature scenes raised feelings of affection, playfulness, friendliness and elation. On the contrary, more Urban views drove most of the students to feelings of sadness. Viewing nature tended to reduce feelings of anger and aggression, and urban scenes tended to increase these feelings.
Science Approves
The Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard School of Public Health brought together 20 international experts from medicine, landscape architecture, public health, and forestry science to try and discover the design elements that contribute to health-promoting natural environments.
This group of experts have concluded their best ideas into The Natural Environments Initiative, a paper that looks into integration of natural elements into city plans to support public health while also providing “ecosystem services,” or the contributions of natural elements to the quality of human life.
“Important design features include everything from diversity of plant and animal species; to the way paths wend their way through the landscape; to the scents, sounds, and vistas you experience when you are immersed in the scenery,” says Julia Africa, a lead author of the paper. “An emerging body of evidence suggests that people should be encouraged to seek out natural environments for their psychological, physical, cognitive and emotional health benefits. Similarly, cities can use emerging evidence to design environments that support health.”
