when compared to the city-walkers. Unforced attention on nature, and the fascination that comes with looking at the natural world, was enough to refresh the tired mind. Not surprisingly then, getting out and walking in a forest setting is also great for us. The Forest Agency of Japan began promoting an initiative in 1982 called Shinrin-Yoku, or ‘forest bathing’. This program is meant to help stressed-out city people (and anyone else interested) soak up the effects of nature by getting them to spend time in the forest. Since it started, psychological and physiological studies on over 1,000 adults have shown the benefits: lower levels of stress hormones, blood pressure, heart rate, depression and anger. They also found improved sleep and a greater feeling of liveliness.
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The great outdoors awaits There are endless variations of outdoor adventuring, from gardening to scaling mountains to walking in your local park. If you are like Matt Linsdell, our Fitness Guru, and love to exercise, you’ll be happy to know that simply running outdoors reduces anger, fatigue, and anxious thoughts more than running on a treadmill. Better than that, outdoor exercise has been shown to increase the number of positive thoughts a person has. Whichever route of outdoor exploration you choose, it appears conclusive that nature is beneficial to health and happiness. So breathe in the air, bring some nature inside, and of course, romp through the wilds and get some dirt under those fingernails.
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The book Your Brain on Nature by Drs. Eva Selhub and Alan Logan explores these issues in greater detail.
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Children with attention deficits concentrate better after walk in the park.
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A potential natural treatment for attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder: Evidence from a national study.
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Effect of sunlight and season on serotonin turnover in the brain.
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Narrow-band blue-light treatment of seasonal affective disorder in adults and the influence of additional nonseasonal symptoms.
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Blue-enriched white light in the workplace improves self-reported lateness, performance and sleep quality.
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Effect of forest environments on human natural killer (NK) activity.
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Smelling lavender and rosemary increases free radical scavenging activity and decreases cortisol level in saliva.
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Aromas of rosemary and lavender essential oils differentially affect cognition and mood in healthy adults.
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The effects of running, environment, and attentional focus on athletes’ catecholamine and cortisol levels.
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Improved performance on clerical tasks associated with administration of peppermint odor.
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Enhancing athletic performance through the administration of peppermint odor.
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The influence of interaction with forest on cognitive function.
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Use of living pot-plants to cleanse indoor air. Sixth International Conference on Indoor Air.
Autumn Sartain’s favorite thing is spending time in nature, which is why she chose to be a wildlife biologist. For the past ten years she has wrestled sea turtles in the tropics, chased song birds in the mountains, sorted through Antarctic seafloor samples and dealt with all that silly business of gaining a postgraduate qualification in Biology. You can see some of her writing at autumnsartain.com.
PA G E 1 1 • F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 4 • I S S U E 1 6 • G U R U
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BORN TO BE WILD