Molly Jones

How does nature impact our general health? Or even our mental health? According to Florence William nature actually has a hugely positive impact on us. But why is nature important? Many reasons support that nature is important such as spending time in nature and seeing an improvement in our general health, becoming less stressed after being in nature, and spending time in nature and feeling happier.

One of many reasons why nature is important is because after spending time in nature our general health has a tendency to be better. In Florence Williams’ article “This is Your Brain on Nature” from National Geographic he explains that “Those living on blocks with more trees showed a boost in heart and metabolic health equivalent to what one would experience from a $20,000 gain in income.” This quote shows that even looking at nature can make us feel even slightly better. Another example of the improvement of general health is when Richard Mitchell “ … did a large study that found less death and disease in people who lived near parks or other green space—even if they didn’t use them.” This quote shares that nature does actually benefit people who don’t even spend tons of time outside but just enjoy the beauty of nature.

Another reason that nature is important is because nature calms us down and relieves stress. In “This is Your Brain on Nature” Florence Williams states that “... people living near more green space reported less mental distress, even after adjusting for income, education, and employment (all of which are also correlated with health).” This is one example of how the beauty of nature can relieve any sort of mental health challenge that you may face. A second example of nature's positive benefit on our mental health is a cognitive psychologist’s hypothesis. His name is David Strayer. “Strayer’s hypothesis is that being in nature allows the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s command center, to dial down and rest, like an overused muscle.” Strayers hypothesis essentially means that once your brain has the chance to rest your stress or other mental struggles to rest as well.

One final reason that nature is important is that we are usually happier after enjoying nature. A researcher from Stanford University named Greg Bratman studied 38 volunteers’ brains after they walked in the city or in nature. “The nature walkers, but not the city walkers, showed decreased activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex—a part of the brain tied to depressive rumination—and from their own reports, the nature walkers beat themselves up less. The less you beat yourself up the happier you will probably feel. Therefore, this quote shows how nature impacts our mood. Bratman also believes that spending time in a pleasant environment “... takes us outside of ourselves in a good way. Nature, he says, may influence “how you allocate your attention and whether or not you focus on negative emotions.” Greg Bratman states that nature can let us escape the negative emotions that we may not be able to ignore anywhere else but in nature. Based on these statements nature is proven to help our happiness.

In conclusion, nature plays an immensely important role in our health and well being. Nature is important for many reasons such as improving our general health, improving our mental health, and just feeling happier. If you have the time, go enjoy nature to gain all of these benefits and many more.