Nature: a place where birds fly around uncooked.” - Oscar Wilde.

First things first, I think we need to reflect on what nature actually is. The world has become dramatically urbanised over the past 100 years, with more people living in urban cities and suburbs. While urban areas generally have more opportunities for work and socialising, cities can be concrete jungles, they are overcrowded, polluted and have proven to be more stressful than rural areas. Accessing nature in a city can be difficult & our lives are busy, we rush, we jump from screen to screen often forgetting to breathe deeply and take in our natural surroundings.

Oscar Wilde said it best. Nature isn’t this far away place that we only visit occasionally, nature is all around us. We will chat more about deep ecology one day soon, but for now… deep ecology (very simply) is the philosophy that we and nature are one. More practically, nature is your backyard, your garden, local park, creek, river, beach, farmland, national park, woodlands, hills, mountains… anywhere birds fly around uncooked!

“It seems to me that we all look at Nature too much, and live with her too little.”- Oscar Wilde

Some cultures around the world are more tapped into nature than we are in Australia. In Japan, forest bathing, known as shinrin-yoku has been vital health and wellbeing practice since the 1980’s. Forest bathing is total immersion in nature, no screens, just all 5 senses tapped in, tuned in and breathing it all in. Yes please! I am booking my flights to Japan as I type. But seriously, Japanese doctors understand the incredible benefits and prescribe forest bathing regularly. Excitingly, and with thanks to a fellow PhD student, in Australia GP’s have also started recommending forest bathing for people living with mental illness on the Gold Coast. More on that soon.

So how long do we need to spend in nature to reap her glorious benefits? The research shows us that at least 120 minutes a week spent in nature is good for our health and wellbeing. Nature’s healing powers are so potent that we only need 2 hours a week immersed in her beauty to soak up all her goodness. Our 2 hours in nature can be spread out over the week or in one big nature loving session (forest bathing!), but the more immersive, the more engaged we are in nature the better. Also the more diverse the better, so mixing up the park with the beach, or the garden with a national park is ideal.

When was the last time you immersed yourself in nature? For how long? and how can you incorporate more nature into your weekly routine?

Exposure to nature improves health by,

Improving cognitive function
Increasing brain activity
Reducing blood pressure
Improving immune system function
Improving mental health
Reducing depression and anxiety
Reducing risk of cardiovascular disease
Promoting physical activity
Improving sleep
Providing opportunities to engage socially
Providing opportunities for play- including building kids discovery, creativity and mastery

Dig deeper

Cox, D. T., Shanahan, D. F., Hudson, H. L., Fuller, R. A., & Gaston, K. J. (2018). The impact of urbanisation on nature dose and the implications for human health. Landscape and Urban Planning, 179, 72-80.

Williams, F. (2017). The nature fix: Why nature makes us happier, healthier, and more creative. WW Norton & Company

White, M. P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J., Wheeler, B. W., Hartig, T., Warber, S. L., ... & Fleming, L. E. (2019). Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific reports, 9(1), 1-11.

Nature Minutes: How much time do we need?

Health kick breakfast for your chickens