Sacred Path and the Importance of Connecting with Nature
Written by Jasleen Chadha, Placement Student, Social Service Worker
Nature has been known to correlate with our emotions by helping with improving our well-being. The more we are exposed to it the better it improves our mood; however, some might find it hard to find that connection with nature as they might not have the right understanding of how nature and their well-being correspond to each other. Connecting with nature makes us feel closer to the natural world (Richardson, 2018). It can become harder to connect with nature especially now because the world has changed so drastically. There have been many new improvements that people do not have the opportunity to go out to enjoy nature. Often times life situations can come in the way, or even a big change in an individual’s life can affect the ability to enjoy nature (Richardson, 2018).
The type of environment that you are in can impact the emotions that you are feeling, nature plays a huge part in the type of emotions you experience. Studies have shown that nature has also helped with anger reduction. Just being in the presence of nature it helps significantly reduce anger, fear, and stress (Spar, 2022). Urban environments are known to have a more soothing environment as individuals are given a better opportunity to be able to experience nature, whereas people who live in the city are not always able to go out to enjoy some time to take some fresh air (Marques, 2020). It has also been proven to help make a stronger bond with other individuals because people are able to have face-to-face conversations and have a better understanding of emotions whereas, through the screen, people are not able to have those meaningful conversations because they were not able to see what kind of emotions the individual other is feeling.
Connecting with nature has also been shown to improve our health by constantly being surrounded by a positive environment can lead to a decrease in the development of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and inflammatory disease, and it can also help improve your immune system (Marques, 2020).
Some things that you can connect with nature is by taking some time to look at your surroundings, for example, you can stop to admire the trees or the flowers or just people walking by or doing an outdoor activity that you like. You can also take some time to go out for a short walk, meditate near the beach, or exercise, gardening. The possibility for outdoor activities is endless however it is up to you to know what type of nature activities best works for you and what does not. From then you can make a routine to better help improve your quality of life (Spar, 2022).
References
Marques, D. (2020, October 19). Connecting with nature: How it benefits our well-being, health and relationships. happiness.com. Retrieved from https://www.happiness.com/magazine/health-body/nature-connection/
Richardson, M. (2018, September 19). Why does a connection with nature improve well-being? Inside Ecology. Retrieved from https://insideecology.com/2018/09/19/why-does-a-connection-with-the-rest-of-nature-improve-well-being/
Spar, M. (2022, April 6). Nature immersion: Understanding the benefits of connecting with nature. Dr. Myles Spar. Retrieved from https://drspar.com/nature-immersion-understanding-the-benefits-of-connecting-with-nature/