Let's Talk About Nature

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy; if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has the power to move you; if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive - Eleonora Duse

Nature is one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen. I will consider myself lucky to have grown close to nature right in front of me. Taking in the beauty every morning, hearing the birds chirp, the crickets in the night, oh, and the beautiful star-filled night. 

Oh, have you tried looking at the sky the moment you wake up? It has this calming peace and relaxes the mind. If you wake up and stare at the sky for a minute, you will involuntarily breathe in and exhale causing all the fibers in your body to strengthen out in preparation for the day.

You may have heard of sick people that their recommendation was to always be out in the open. Oh, what about stress management classes that advise the students to go out and more often in a garden, flower vegetation, park, woods, away from the noise.

Do you know that people who look at trees for more than one minute have the tendency of being more generous than those who look at buildings?

Nature has everything for us. Relaxation, healing, creativity.

“Nature isn’t a miracle cure for diseases,” says McRobert, “But by interacting with it, spending time in it, experiencing it and appreciating it we can reap the benefits of feeling happier and healthier as a result.”

Have you ever been opportune to listen to the sounds of the running waters or the gentle breeze? 

You really need to try that.

Does Nature Have an Impact on Our General Wellbeing?

Yes, it certainly does.

• Research reveals that nature can increase or reduce our stress, which in turn impacts our bodies. What you are seeing, hearing, experiencing at any moment is changing not only your mood, but how your nervous, endocrine, and immune systems are working.

Imagine yourself in an outdoor space surrounded by trees, green grass, and the sounds of birds chirping and leaves rustling. You see the blue sky and sun above you, feel the soft breeze tickling your skin, and smell the bark on the trees. You notice the activity around you: the leaves gently swaying on the trees, the birds traveling from branch to branch, and the critters scurrying among the plant life on the ground.

After returning back home, you may feel different. Even if you started your day stressed or overwhelmed, you may find yourself now feeling happy, relaxed, and calm. These are the health benefits of nature at work.

• Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, but it also contributes to your physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. Health researchers said that being out in nature may even reduce the mortality rate.

• In research conducted by public health scientists, children exposed to the natural world showed increases in self-esteem. They also felt it taught them how to take risks, unleashed their creativity and gave them a chance to exercise, play, and discover. In some cases nature can significantly improve the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), providing a calming influence and helping them concentrate.

• When the senses are used to experience nature, the brains put out more alpha waves, which make you more calm and alert. You also may feel more energized and enthusiastic, which can help you tackle tough tasks at work.

• Do you want to learn how to pay attention? Pay a visit to nature. Time in nature or viewing nature scenes increases our ability to pay attention. This is because humans find nature inherently interesting, hence, we can naturally focus on what we are experiencing out in nature. This also provides a respite for our overactive minds, refreshing us for new tasks.

• “Nature deprivation,” a lack of time in the natural world, largely due to hours spent in front of TV or computer screens, has been associated, unsurprisingly, with depression. More unexpected are studies carried out by Weinstein and others that associate screen time with the loss of empathy and lack of altruism. 

So shouldn't we all be spending more time outside interacting with nature?

Unfortunately, we are rapidly destroying nature for the sake of development. 

If only we can make it all balanced. Development taking place while we find a way to preserve some parts of our natural habitations. Even destroying nature is also contributing to global warming which has such a negative effect on humans, plants, and animals.

To be able to connect with nature we need to protect it.