How To Improve Brain Health: Spend Time In Nature

Ever felt so overwhelmed with work or personal life that you wish to escape to the mountains or by the beachside? Well, there’s a proven reason for this! Your mind is not just looking for a vacation or a break, but also to immerse itself in nature therapy.

Countless research has shown that spending even a few hours in nature every day can bring a host of benefits to the heart and brain and is a must-do activity if you are looking for ways in how to improve brain health.

Be it a stroll in a park nearby, taking a weekly hike, or even tending to your home garden, surrounding yourself with nature can improve your mood, reduce stress and positively affect your overall well-being.

Let’s dive into these benefits in detail.

How to improve brain health through nature

1. Reduces stress levels

• The stress of managing work, socialization, and personal life gets to us more often than not, which puts a lot of fatigue on the brain.
• Stress is a response to external factors that originate in the brain, mainly the hypothalamus.
• This conveys to the body that there is a stressor present, putting it in a fight or flight mode. The heart beats faster, blood pressure goes up and other changes occur.
• Prolonged exposure to stress keeps this system of the body activated and can adversely affect memory retention, mood, anxiety, and attention and impact overall sleep and brain health.
• The best way to lower stress levels and their effects on the brain is to step outside, literally! Nature takes you away from daily stressors and lets your recharge and rejuvenate, while significantly reducing stress markers like heightened anxiety or heart rate.

2. Increases your attention span

• Boost your brain’s attention capabilities with a stroll in nature. Studies have shown that a leisurely 90-minute walk among greenery activates the neural part of the brain that is connected to increased focus and attention and better memory performance.
• In a more targeted study, students showed a 20% increase in memory and recall on a test after spending about an hour in nature. This happens because nature introduces us to various stimuli of sounds, sights, and smells, but does not require our conscious focus, which is more suited for daily or professional tasks. These non-distracting elements allow us to refresh our attention spans.

3. Improves creativity and productivity

• One of the best brain health tips to get your creative juices flowing is to be amidst the greens and the blues.
• Because nature has the ability to enhance concentration through unconscious attention, it allows the brain to wander freely or replenish its directed/focused attention.
• Moreover, your brain is also receiving more oxygen and boosting dopamine levels while in nature. This also increases your mental energy and can help you focus on the problem at hand and develop novel solutions.

4. Reduces the risk of neurodegenerative disorders

• Promote the importance of brain health in elderly individuals with neurodegenerative disorders by helping them spend even a short time engaging in outdoor nature activities like a light stroll.
• Recent research shows that older people living closer to green and blue spaces have a lower risk of developing dementia. Even older adults with dementia showed lower rates of hospitalization when surrounded by nature.

5. Improves sleep patterns

• The effects of sleep deprivation on how the brain functions are well-known. It reduces your concentration, impairs judgment, reduces reaction time, and negatively impacts nerve connections responsible for our memory performance.
• While the link between sleep and brain health is obvious, are the ways to enhance sleep also just as apparent? Yes, and the answer lies in nature!
• Spending more time outdoors, especially in the mornings can work wonders to improve your sleep quality. In fact, soaking in the sun’s rays can regulate your body’s circadian rhythm, causing you to feel more tired or sleepy at night.
• This, in turn, allows your brain to get the rest it needs and improves cognitive functions of attention, problem-solving, decision-making, etc.

Nature activities and exercises for brain health

• Research shows that to reap the benefits of nature, you need to spend at least two recreational hours a week among the greenery. These can be together or over multiple visits, as is well worth the time invested.
• Take up a new activity or hobby during your free time that puts you closer to nature. This could be gardening, birdwatching, or even a run in the park.
• You can practice forest bathing, which does not have any specifics of what the person should or experience, but rather it just involves walking in nature and taking in all the sights, sounds and smells
• For slow-paced and longer nature-based exercises for brain health, try hiking, cycling, or kayaking in the woods.
• If you are unable to devote too many hours outdoors, bring it indoors. You can surround your house or workspace with plants or move your workstation to a window overlooking a green spot. Even simple additions like nature-inspired decor or listening to nature sounds can greatly alter your mental health and brain functions.

Conclusion

In our fast-paced and urban world, it is easy to lose our connection with nature. But when consciously looking for ways on how to improve brain health, spending even a few minutes every day can have a miraculous effect on your overall brain health, from rejuvenating your mind and body to reducing stress and enhancing creativity.

Don’t worry, you can even engage in simple, everyday activities to get the most out of mother nature. Follow our brain health tips listed above and you can reap the benefits, anytime, anywhere!