5 Powerful Reasons Viewing Nature Scenery Can Benefit Your Health!
Need a health boost? Could looking at nature photography improve your health? The answer is a resounding YES, and it’s proven! Viewing nature is one of the easiest ways to feel better and be happier. Surrounding yourself with the outdoors, including adding some relaxing nature photography in your environment, can do so many things for your health. Here is a summary of the top 5 ways nature can improve your health:
1. Decrease Stress
Need a way to reduce stress and anxiety in your life? According to research findings reported in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, participants who viewed natural images in the experiment were able to lower their stress levels thanks to their parasympathetic nervous system, which helps support relaxation and recovery. Viewing nature helps reduce the stress hormone cortisol. Another study suggests that access to nature in the workplace can reduce perceived job stress and improve job satisfaction. When we can’t be out in nature, the next best thing is to bring the outdoors home to you. Relaxing nature wall art will help your stress and anxiety disappear.
2. Improve Your Mood
By surrounding yourself with nature, you will receive many mental health benefits. These include improving your mood overall and increasing the enjoyment of exercising! The evidence shows that when people viewed nature scenes, they had increased feelings of pleasure and positivity. Not only that, but they also had a decrease in tension, anger, confusion, and depression. In addition, a systematic review involving where people exercise concluded that exercising in a natural environment, or surrounded by nature, was associated with greater feelings of revitalization and increased energy.
3. Promotes Quicker Healing
The scientific evidence is compelling and clear that viewing nature scenes is vital to creating a healing environment that improves patient outcomes. The research suggests that nature wall art can be a good distraction for patients, help lower blood pressure, decrease the need for pain medication, reduce stress and anxiety, and increase patients’ trust and confidence. One article described a small Pennsylvania hospital with some rooms facing a small courtyard with nature views and, in contrast, other rooms facing a boring brick wall. Hospital administrators began noticing that the patients in the courtyard rooms viewing nature healed much faster than those in the brick rooms. One study project in Italy using art in Cancer Centers found that patients preferred nature wall art for recovery and healing over anything else. Furthermore, the research on utilizing art for healing and its benefits continues to spread to more healthcare facilities worldwide.
4. Increased Happiness
Want to be happier? Our modern lifestyle often disconnects us from nature. By surrounding yourselves with nature, you can improve your health and experience increased satisfaction with jobs, homes, and life. Research has shown that access to nature made participants much happier. If you can’t be outside as often as you would like, remind your brain of the healing and uplifting benefits nature can offer by using photographs of beautiful landscapes on your walls.
5. Improved concentration
For us to focus, the parts of our brain responsible for our ability to pay attention need and rely on a source of fuel. If we do not give our brain a break, it can run out of energy. Natural environments help restore focus and concentration by giving our brain time to recover from our busy lives and schedules. Evidence has shown that taking in the sites of nature can be especially beneficial for our minds. Even just looking at photos of nature in a quiet room had a more significant cognitive boost than walking down a busy urban street. In one study, researchers asked a hundred sets of parents of children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) about various playtime activities and how their children responded. Children who have ADD are often distracted and restless. Parents reported that when their children were doing outside green activities, they were more relaxed, focused, and calm. These results were even present when the children were indoors but surrounded by nature views.
By now, I’m sure you realize how essential nature is for our overall health and well-being. Of course, getting away and surrounding yourself with nature isn’t always easy. If you can’t be outside enjoying nature, consider the benefits of surrounding yourself with beautiful nature photographs from David Reimann Photography. You will find many relaxing options in my landscape photography gallery to bring adventure and enhanced health to your life. By joining my email list, you can stay updated on new photos, adventures, and blog posts!
Resources:
–https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4690962/
–https://academic.oup.com/heapro/article/21/1/45/646436
–https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110204130607.htm
–https://healingphotoart.org/about-us/scientific-evidence/
–https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/03/how-nature-resets-our-minds-and-bodies/274455/
https://www.apa.org/monitor/apr01/greengood.aspx
