HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE YOU’VE BEEN ABLE TO GET AWAY FOR A WHILE TO ENJOY NATURE? For me it should be mandatory to do it at least once a week…
Some time ago I read an article (1) about a study carried out by a cognitive psychologist, David Strayer. Where it was stated that: SPENDING TIME IN NATURE RELIEVES STRESS.
These words reaffirmed that indescribable sensation we feel when we leave the asphalt for a moment and escape… to the forest, to the beach, to the mountains. That moment when we STOP FOR A MOMENT AND BREATHE AGAIN. Don’t you think that sometimes we forget to breathe? I mean to breathe being conscious of it, to breathe in a deeper way, noisy and opening the chest with desire.
It doesn’t take too long in a natural environment to provoke, for example, a drop in one of the hormones related to stress (cortisol). It only takes 15 minutes for it to decrease by 16%. But also, the natural environment can be a “PARK”. In Valencia we are lucky to have the old Turia riverbed 5 minutes away in almost the whole city and incredible beaches in the same city… But if you organize yourself well, you can spend unforgettable moments like the one we spent this weekend doing a new SPORT for me: SUP or Paddle Surf.
I encourage you to change the routine, to escape for a couple of hours, to plan a weekend in nature, to have lunch in the park between two work shifts, to take the longest way to go to work passing by that place where the trees cover our heads… I encourage you to do EXERCISE OUTDOORS. It is usually more motivating and easier than doing it in a gym or at home. The environment in this case, it is important! In this way we would get double benefit, those that brings along the exercise and those that nature brings us.
Feel the fresh air, CLOSE YOUR EYES WHILE FEELING THE SUN ON YOUR FACE, listen to the silence, listen to your steps and your breathing, get lost looking at the falling water, the clouds, that mountain, the ripples in the sea ….
It is not known for sure what causes so many benefits, but we can affirm that spending time in nature reduces stress, anxiety, keeps depression away and favors our cognitive activity.
Let our brain disconnect, escape and recover from the demands of our lifestyle. And I am sure you will be a little bit HAPPIER or at least YOU WILL BE TRYING TO.
(1) Take Two Hours of Pine Forest and Call Me in the Morning – Florence Williams.OUTSIDE MAGAZINE (November 2012)
https://www.anft.blog/uploads/8/1/4/4/8144400/take_two_hours_of_pine_forest_and_call_me_in_the_morning__outside_magazine_2012.pdf
