NATURE : How your connection with it matters.

Nature: How your connection with it matters.

I love getting out for a walk or a jog with my dogs. There is something about being in and around nature that feeds my soul. Being close to a beach or a lake has always been on my location wish list. Is my draw to nature just a romantic facet of what I like, or is there something more to nature than simply the enjoyment I get from spectacular views or beautiful birdsong? Since I’ve had my new work laptop I have been greeted by beautiful scenes from around the world every day and I really like spending a moment looking at those images. Today is Reine Lofoten, Norway. It looks lovely there. Is looking at this laptop actually doing anything for my wellbeing?

If you dive into the research world there is a large amount of evidence to suggest that there are mental health benefits to connecting to nature. Age-old wisdom and modern science say that nature is good for us, but in financially wealthy, industrialised nations (like ours) less than 10% of each day, on average, is spent outdoors. How much time, on average do you spend outdoors and in the natural environment? It's ok, I think I could do better too. Children, most alarmingly, are spending less and less time outdoors, trading den building for screen time, possibly at the detriment of the benefits which being in nature provides in terms of their potential to flourish.

There are a few aspects of the human-nature experience that I think are useful for us to think about in relation to our wellbeing. We can think in terms of nature contact and nature connectedness. Nature contact means interacting with the natural world, e.g. sitting in a woods, park or garden; being around nature indoors (e.g. plants), being exposed to virtual representations of nature (e.g. photos like the ones on my work laptop, or videos of natural landscapes). Nature connectedness is about your sense of connection with the natural world. It can be thought of as how nature or the natural world is a part of who you are. How much of an outdoorsy/nature-loving person are you at the moment? Considering both elements can help shape our thinking about how we get more nature into our lives.

Why is nature so good for us?

We can see, perhaps, that our relationship with nature could improve but it is worth exploring why nature is so good for us. What does increasing our nature time do for us? Three major theories try to explain this. They are biophilia, attention restoration, and stress reduction. Here’s a little bit on each.

Biophilia.

This unusual word describes the idea that we are beings that are part of nature, and we have only in relatively recent times begun to live in urban, nature-derelict environments. The need to connect to nature may just be a part of who we are. We don’t recognise that we need to connect with nature anymore, perhaps, because we can survive without that connection to a large extent. There are clocks, weather reports, pizza delivery, and google maps now. We don’t need to be able to read the angle of the sun, forage for food or navigate by stars anymore, but perhaps we still possess our internal drivers to do this. This could explain how connecting with nature satisfies our sense of wellbeing, our sense of contentment and happiness because it responds to some things that we are just driven to do.

Attention Restoration.

This theory gives us another explanation of why connecting with nature is good for us. It says that there are two types of attention, directed attention and involuntary attention.

Directed attention- this type of attention involves prolonged focus and effort. This is a limited resource that is tired out after extended use and, when depleted, can lead to negative emotional states (e.g. being grumpy) and declines in your brain's ability to think well. This is important for how well we do our work.

Involuntary attention – this type of attention is effortless yet demanding. To me, it means that you’ve completely left any awareness of your work or your current demands because nature is completely engrossing. You are completely mesmerised by it, and this mesmerising is effortless. I feel this a lot when I’m hiking in the mountains or jogging through the woods.

Being in nature (wild swimming, or walking in the park) or being in contact with nature (watering your office cactus, or watching a David Attenborough show) seems to be restorative. This means that being in contact with nature gives us a chance to get away, to attend to fascinating rich stimuli that effortlessly engage our involuntary attention, and it allows us to act without the need to constantly monitor our behaviour. Many pieces of research report improvements in concentration, directed attention and emotional functioning after contact with nature. The best things for us in life really are free!

Stress Reduction

Stress reduction theory says that being connected to nature is good for us because exposure to natural environments that were evolutionary beneficial to our wellbeing and survival automatically brings out a range of stress-reducing psychophysiological responses. Compared to built environments, nature can decrease arousal and perceived stress levels after our concentration abilities are all used up. Its thought that access to nearby nature can shield us against stress and researchers all over the world are testing how specific elements of nature, such as wood or the sound of running water influence the stress response. Several decades of research support the idea that contact with nature can lower pulse rates, reduce cortisol (stress hormone) levels, and improve immune functioning. All good reasons to take advantage of what may be on, or not too far from our doorsteps.

While each of these theories is different they all carry the same outcome. Connecting with nature supports human wellbeing and functioning. The challenge here is to recognise your current level of connection with nature and perhaps find ways of building on it a little at a time. You don’t need to become an extreme mountaineer or sea swimmer if that’s not for you. Even a minute microbreak looking at that desktop orchid or laptop screen saver landscape can help.

Catch up again soon

I have relied on the research review of Capaldi, Passmore, Nisbet, Zelenski, & Dopko, 2015 for guiding the writing of this article. If you’d like to read the full research article here is the full reference and link -

Capaldi, C. A., Passmore, H. A., Nisbet, E. K., Zelenski, J. M., & Dopko, R. L. (2015). Flourishing in nature: A review of the benefits of connecting with nature and its application as a wellbeing intervention. International Journal of Wellbeing, 5(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v5i4.449