Nature & Wellness

Eco-Therapy

Have you ever heard your doctor prescribe going outside? More doctors are feeling compelled by the need to do so, influenced by recent research on the physical and psychological effects nature has on our well-being. For example, one study reviewed the mental well-being of children outdoors, concluding that access to green spaces "promotes attention restoration, memory, competence, supportive social groups, self-discipline, moderates stress" and "improves behaviors and symptoms of ADHD." Two more studies on adults in Japan and Finland concluded that walking outside (i.e. forests, urban parks, woodlands) compared to walking in urban cities, decreased anxiety, lowered heart rate and blood pressure, and boosted levels of mood. Salubrious effects were seen even after just 20 minutes of being outside! Even more research has shown ways in which nature increases one's generosity, compassion, creativity, and connection to feeling alive. These profound findings of the 'nature effect' may strike one's suspicion at first, as many of our daily lives are now spent inside and driven by screens and social media. However, growing bodies of evidence claim that spending more time in nature is a key ingredient to our survival and ability to flourish, arguing that these are the environments our minds and bodies evoutionarily developed to thrive in. Peter James at the Harvard School of Public Health states, “the ability to recover from stress is better in natural settings, because that’s where we are meant to be.”

It's important to acknowledge this research is not urging folks to turn to extreme outdoor sports or move out of cities and onto farms. We also must highlight the fact that many communities are systematically blocked from the privilege of outdoor activities and access to safe, green spaces, and several folks are not advantaged with the means and time of day to be outside. Fortunately, researchers do agree that we do not have to make any drastic life changes to reap nature's benefits, but instead suggest we work on weaving a number of small doses of the outdoors into our everyday lives, such as gardening, walking, bringing plants inside our home, eating meals/taking breaks outside, holding meetings outside, spend more time looking out of windows, etc. Although researchers state spending at least 2 hours outside a week can tremendously boost health, they also stress the quality over the quantity of time outside - that is, putting away technology and other distractions and granting ourselves the space to focus on nature, gratitude, and/or our current physical and mental states.

Importance of Recognizing Climate Anxiety

On the other end of this spectrum is climate anxiety - aka 'climate grief,' 'eco-anxiety,' or 'eco-doom' - which describes the feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and helplessness many youth and young adults experience when thinking about the negative effects of climate change. Why is this important to recognize? Because these feelings are often widely ignored and left unresolved in our culture, deeply impacting our well-being and contributing to the global plight of mental health, especially among college-aged students. That's why the U of O has started our own Climate Anxiety outreach program, led by second year student, Makenna Smith. Makenna has made great strides working with our Student Sustainability Center focusing on student wellness and ways to take action for the betterment of our environment and ourselves. Along with several studies on this topic, Makenna says talking openly about these feelings, practicing self-compassion, finding a supportive community, and taking collective action towards climate hope is what can help most to move through this anxiety and alchemize it into positive change.