“Nature is doing her best each moment to make us well. Why, nature is but another name for health.”
Nature and Health
For thousands of years, the relationship between humans and nature was inseparable. Cultures around the globe viewed human as integral to nature, rather than above or separate from it.
Students gained essential skills in recognizing emotions in themselves and others and coping with difficult circumstances in healthy, productive ways. The program addressed eco-anxiety by reconnecting students to the land and engaging them in a tangible, climate solution.
For thousands of years, humans’ relationship with nature has been inseparable. Cultures around the globe have viewed humanity as integral to nature rather than above or separate from it.
The term “biophilia” refers to the idea that humans have a deep biological connection with other plants, animals, and nature. People have evolved in nature, yet it is only very recently that we have migrated into cities and become disconnected from natural environments.
Many studies have demonstrated that contact with the natural world, especially in childhood, is good for health. Greater time spent in green spaces has been associated with health benefits, including:
- More physical activity leads to improved heart and lung health
- Better mental health, less depressive and aggressive behaviors, and overall stress reduction
- Conflict resolution and self-advocacy skills
- Increased attention, memory, and academic performance
- Enhanced immune health
- Development of meaningful relationships
- Improved mood and increased sense of self-worth
Attention Restoration Theory, or ART, refers to the feeling of being energized, calmed, and restored through being in nature. Spending time in nature allows us to pay attention instinctually and effortlessly, noticing nature’s wonders, such as leaves moving through a tree, a babbling brook, and birds in the sky. This is called involuntary attention, or attention that requires no effort. Voluntary attention, however, takes effort and concentration and can lead to mental fatigue, irritability, and impulsivity. Involuntary attention is required to give the brain a rest and recover.
Youth around the world are experiencing mental health crises at alarming rates. According to the Wildlife Trust, fewer than one in 10 children regularly play in wild spaces today, and the area around their homes where they can explore unsupervised has shrunk from six miles in 1915 to 300 yards in 2015. The author Jay Griffiths said, “Children are denied the sole medicine that has always cared for children’s spirits, the woods.”