Want Better Health in Just 2 Hours Per week?

Researchers Say Spend More Time in Nature.
 
A few days ago, my dog Cooper and I headed out the door on an aimless walk.
 
Ten minutes later, we arrived at a nearby park. The skies were clear.  The morning sunshine warmed my face. Birds sang. Leaves rustled in the wind.

Before I knew it, we had been gone for over an hour.

I returned home feeling euphoric and refreshed--and in some way, profoundly touched.  I had lost myself in the beauty of nature, and in the essence of that early morning.  

It reminded me of Henry David Thoreau’s two-year experiment in the 1840’s.  He left civilization (such as it was at the time) and lived a simple lifestyle on Walden Pond in rural Massachusetts.  Removed from distractions, he focused exclusively on nature.  And on his writing. 

As he later described in Walden, “ I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
I was so motivated by my hour in nature, that I planned to walk again the next morning.

But, sadly, when the next morning arrived, I got busy doing something else.  To Cooper’s disappointment, we skipped the walk.   

From epiphany to afterthought.  Just like that.

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My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature.
​--Claude Monet

And it might have remained an afterthought, had I not stumbled across a study this morning that actually quantifies the benefits of spending time in nature. 

It even recommends a minimum weekly dose.

According to a study conducted by the University of Exeter, and published in Scientific Reports, spending 120 minutes per week in nature is associated with good health and well-being.

Over a two-year period (like Thoreau’s Walden experiment) researchers studied the effects of spending time in nature by tracking nearly 20,000 participants.

They found that these participants were far more likely to report good mental and physical health if they had spent at least 2 hours per week in nature.

Participants who spent less than that two-hour minimum, received no practical benefit.

Of course, that all sounds great.  But what about those of us who live in urban areas? And how did the study define “nature?”

Well, in the majority of cases, spending time in “nature” meant spending time in urban green spaces, town parks, country parks, woodlands and beaches within 2 miles of the participant’s home.

The study also found that it didn’t matter whether the participants had obtained their dose of nature in one visit, or cumulatively, in smaller sessions spread over the course of the week.

Additionally, researchers found that while the minimum effective dose was 120 minutes per week, the benefits leveled off at 200-300 minutes per week.

And, there was no perceived benefit to go beyond that dosage.

Beyond participant self-report, the study also captured a correlation between time in nature and improved cardio-vascular health, reduced levels of obesity and fewer instances of diabetes. Researchers also noted that the study's findings regarding the benefits of nature held true regardless of a participant’s age, ethnic, cultural, or socio-economic status.

Authors of the study opined that these improvements likely occurred because spending time in nature provides 1) a better perspective on life events, 2) more time with family or friends, and 3) reduced stress.

With all of these amazing benefits, as well as my own observations, I'm recommitting to making time for at least a couple of nature walks per week.

That’s good news for Cooper, as well.
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Eleonora Duse, the Italian writer, once said, “If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.”

See you all outside.
 
Keith
 
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My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature. Claude Monet
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/claude_monet_802612

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/eleonora_duse_307834

1.    Mathew P. White, Ian Alcock, James Grellier, Benedict W. Wheeler, Terry Hartig, Sara L. Warber, Angie Bone, Michael H. Depledge, Lora E. Fleming. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports, 2019; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3
https://rdcu.be/bGMlS

​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
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