We all struggle with our mental health from time to time. Whether we're dealing with a particularly stressful situation or are experiencing loss or grief, it's important to remember we're not alone. We recommend that those struggling with depression, anxiety, burnout or other mental health concerns, seek out medical support from a health care practitioner. 

It's a time in which fresh emphasis has been given to how we as a society and as individuals can build up resilience to such stresses. Given the breadth of the restrictions during the first wave of the pandemic, one of the key sources of stress relief was access to nature, with gardens gaining renewed appreciation, and proximity to parks and green spaces highly sought after.

Research from the University of Arizona highlighted the value of parks to our overall well-being, and especially so when those parks were within walking or cycling distance to our homes. The researchers found that we’re around 3.5 times more likely to visit such spaces every day when the parks were close by.

Stress Relief

The benefits of time spent in nature have been well-documented over the years. For instance, a few years ago research from King’s College London used a smartphone app to solidify the link between time spent in nature and our mental well-being. What's more, this link was particularly strong among those with impulsive characteristics. Indeed, the study found that particular elements of nature are valuable, with things like the sound of birdsong and exposure to trees giving us a boost that can last for several hours.

So it’s perhaps no surprise that nature has been so beneficial, but what is perhaps surprising is the speed with which we gain a mental health boost from it. Research conducted last year by Cornell University found that just 10 minutes of exposure to nature was enough to make us feel more relaxed and generally happier. After analyzing a number of studies, it emerged that the “sweetspot” for maximum benefits from our time in nature was between 10 and 50 minutes. These benefits go beyond mental health and also include things such as lower blood pressure.

Equally important is the fact that there doesn’t appear to be any particular activity that is required to achieve these benefits. While numerous studies have highlighted the physical and mental benefits we derive from exercise, the Cornell team found that we gain a boost from nature regardless of whether we’re walking, running, or just sitting.

Helping Us To Learn

It should be no great shock that anything that provides a boost to our mental health will also help our productivity, but that’s exactly what research from the University of Illinois showed. The researchers tested whether conducting classes among nature helps students maintain focus and engagement in the lesson. Not only did this appear to be the case, but the boost to their performance endured after the class had ended as well. The "nature effect" was so powerful that it didn’t appear to diminish even if class after class was conducted in a natural setting. 

If we don’t have immediate access to nature, research from the Harvard School of Public Health shows that benefits can be gained by bringing nature indoors. It reinforced the findings from the previous studies in terms of the boost to learning when we actually get out and experience nature firsthand, with this boost especially strong for children with ADHD, but they also found that even viewing nature from the window can lower our stress hormones and heart rate.

Putting The Mind At Rest

The authors argue that this boost is predominantly felt because our minds are put at rest, which allows us to focus more effectively on whatever the task is at hand. There is an increasing global focus on mental wellbeing. With nations across the world beginning to explore measures like “Gross National Happiness” to add depth and meaning to traditional economic measures, such as Gross National Product, there is a clear mandate to assign more of our urban spaces to the kind of parks and other natural places that do so much to boost our mental and physical well-being.