NATURE HEALS BOTH BODY & SOUL

1.    Nature And Spiritual Well-Being

You might hear the word “spirituality” and immediately think about religion. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Spirituality, as characterized by the academic community, is a multidimensional construct that defines relationships with community, self, the environment, and theological components.

Nature Makes You Feel Connected

Have you ever been awestruck by the sheer magnificence and magnitude of the world surrounding you? Have your surroundings ever stopped you in your tracks, and you just found yourself staring at how beautiful the world is?

Nature can have that effect on people. It would be impossible not to be mesmerized when you look around and see colorful flowers, towering trees, mountains so high you can’t even imagine, seas as clear as crystal, the list goes on and on.

The wonder you feel when you take the time to internalize everything around you, instead of being glued to a screen 24/7, can make you feel connected to everything around you. This can help you shift your perspective from irritable and moody to immediately grateful for being where you are. Just acknowledging how small you are compared to everything in the universe, yet how vital you are nonetheless, can help you feel gratitude, making you more self-fulfilled.

Nature Grounds You to Help Heal Body and Soul

Grounding is an emerging field of study concerned with the positive effects of your body electrically connecting to the earth. The earth pulses out an electromagnetic frequency (the Schumann Resonance) that connects to the human body that is fully conductive.The human cells are immediately grounded whenever the body touches the earth. Thus the body naturally goes into a healing state. This restoration improves circulatory function, sleeping rhythms and reduces inflammation, stress, and anxiety.

Nature Allows You To Focus On Your Senses

When you are in an office, surrounded by technology, your only stimulation is provided by said technology and the need to get everything done and go home and rest. Nature can provide an escape from that by allowing you to relax and let your senses be stimulated by everything around you.

When in nature, you can enjoy all types of sensory experiences. From the sound of a branch snapping to the sight of a colorful bird to the smell of the grass, everything can be taken in without thinking about it. No stress, no overthinking, just feeling and being present in the moment.

The stimulation of all your senses can help you relax, meditate, understand who you are and what makes you happy, and is the best way to connect to your inner self.

 2. Nature Heals Mental Health, As Well as Body and Soul

One of the main ways in which nature heals is through the mind. Whenever you are out in nature, without any distractions, your mental health immediately improves.

Nature And Ecotherapy

Nature effectively alleviates mental health issues that psychologists now support ecotherapy as a healing measure.

Ecotherapy is not limited to people with mental health conditions. Anyone can do it, and everyone who does it benefits from it. You don’t need to be frightened by the idea. It’s not all about exhausting physical activities. It can be how challenging you want it to be. Don’t like the idea of walking for hours? Maybe gardening is for you. Or maybe growing plants, playing with animals, sailing, meditation, whatever crosses your mind.

This type of therapy connects to fewer depression symptoms, less anxiety, and increased relationship connection.

Nature Leads To Less Stress

Have you ever dreaded leaving the outdoors, knowing that later in the day, you will be stuck inside, in a city full of buildings, bricks, and asphalt? Without question, you would rather be on a beach right now than in an office or stuck inside your house.

The environment is directly tied to your stress levels. When you step outdoors, you evade closed, cluttered, ugly, or inefficient surroundings. This dysfunctional space will immediately lead to a more stressful life. As soon as you swap that environment for the outdoors, you will feel yourself become more and more relaxed.

Nature is directly tied to lower cortisol levels and other stress-related hormones, making you feel more relaxed and freer. This correlates to less anxiety and depression and an overall better mood.

Nature Can Boost Your Confidence And Self-Esteem

Simply exploring nature will inevitably teach you new things. Maybe you learn something about flora and fauna, perhaps you try a new sport, whatever you might choose to do it will be a unique experience.

Research at UCL has found that learning new things, coupled with the fact that the outdoors are the perfect place to self-reflect, can give you a massive boost in confidence.

Nature can also help facilitate social interactions, helping you make new friends, which can help you feel like, thus increasing confidence.

3.    Nature And Physical Well-Being

Nature Can Prevent Certain Diseases

As we discussed, being in nature leads to lower levels of stress. This is important not only for the immediate psychological benefits but also because lower levels of stress directly link with the prevention of many health issues.

Many plants have also been shown to release immunity-boosting organic compounds into the air, filtering the air and reducing stress hormones in your body.Lower levels of stress prepare you for better sleep, which can prevent the risk of insomnia. Lower blood pressure is another benefit, which reduces the risk of developing heart problems. Less stress can also improve your digestion and boost your immune system.

Nature Improves Cognitive Function

Studies have shown that time in nature improves the acquisition and goal-oriented use of knowledge by improving memory formation and recall and goal-oriented or directed attention.

Allowing you to relax and focus on one thing at a time can help boost your attention span and short-term memory functions, thus allowing you to execute better different tasks required of you when you inevitably return to society.