Nature Connectedness
Seattle, Washington St; Amazon Spheres.
Mental illnesses are more common in cities, and while many factors share the blame, reduced access to nature is a contributing cause. There are steps cities are taking to introduce nature into everyday life. Large windows that allow in fresh air and natural light, plants that increase oxygen in the room. Long walks, sunsets and sunrises, flowers, a clear sky, getting in the water, watching the stars.
Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
From a stroll through a city park to a day spent hiking in the wilderness, exposure to the outside world has been linked to a host of benefits. Nature connectedness has been revealed to be associated with greater feelings of autonomy, personal growth, and purpose in life; lower levels of anxiety, depression and stress; and increased attention span and cognitive functioning. In this way nature connection can bring greater balance to emotion regulation and can contribute to fostering two different dimensions of happiness, both joy, and calm.
“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy”
Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar.
We are part of nature. It is about our emotional connections and responses to nature, which help to regulate our own feelings and keep us mentally healthy. And it is about a meaningful relationship with the rest of nature rather than seeing it as something other. In short, it’s understanding that as humans nature is our story.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived”
Walden. Henry David Thoreau.
@Road to Hana, Hawaii.
