It’s something most of us just feel and know. When we go for a walk in nature we feel better. Often science takes a bit of time to catch up with our own deep wisdom. We live in a culture that demands empirical evidence to validate the value and benefits of something.
Some things are hard to measure. But we’re making progress when it come to the impact of nature on our health and what we call wholebeing. Turns out there are real psychological benefits to spending time outdoors.
“Scientists are beginning to find evidence that being in nature has a profound impact on our brains and our behavior, helping us to reduce anxiety, brooding, and stress, and increase our attention capacity, creativity, and our ability to connect with other people.”
In a recent article How Nature Can Make You Kinder, Happier, and More Creative cites quite a few studies about how this happens. One point in the article in particular caught my attention.
“Nature may also increase attention and creativity by allowing for “attention restoration” to counteract the bombardment of information our brains experience on a regular basis.”
It seems all of our cell phone and computer use causes reductions in cognitive resources and creative thinking. Nature, it turns out, allows our brains to recover and feelings of well being to increase. Findings were similar when experiments took place on a four-day hiking trip or a walk through an urban arboretum.
But who really needs to be creative? First, let’s look at the definition of creative because often being creative gets confused with being artistic. Creative actually means “resulting from originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative.”
Do you need to have any original thoughts in your daily work? Maybe a better question is are there any jobs or work where any of us are not in need of original solutions to problems at work and at home? How to reframe that client problem to find a solution or how to pick up your two children at the same time from different locations across town?
Life is often a series of challenges that needs creative solutions. The good news is that nature can help.
So a walk in the park as professional development? YES! Even just looking out the window can help to see the changing sky and some natural light. Take a nature break a few times this week and see how you feel.
Happy Spring!
Be well…it’s a state of mind.