This week, I was invited to present to an enthusiastic and passionate group of Forest Therapy guides from a wide variety of locations, including Spain, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China and Australia. It was such fun.
Forest Therapy Guides are highly adept at assisting others to connect more deeply with nature through guided forest walks, mindfulness meditation practices, workshops and corporate presentations.
They are, in my view, an untapped source for improving our health and well-being.
Many workplaces in Australia and elsewhere spend a lot of money on health and well-being programs, but are often sadly disillusioned by the outcome. The ROI is often just not there.
This is where adding in an inexpensive adjunct like spending time with a Forest Therapy Guide can help, but before you start telling me, “Nice idea Jenny, but I don’t have time for this, we’ve got deadlines to meet, KPIs to attain and a heavy workload”, let me ask you this.
What if 10 minutes spent outside could boost your level of creativity and mental clarity?
What if 20 minutes spent outside every day could lower your stress levels, reduce anxiety and elevate your resilience to all those curveballs swinging our way?
What if going for a walking meeting with a colleague for 30 minutes resulted in some deep and meaningful conversation, built trust and collaboration?
Because this is what time with nature helps us with.
In our meeting, we touched on several important health factors.
Time in nature matters for:
1. Improved mental health and well-being.
We spend so much of our time indoors these days, we miss out on the health-giving benefits of time in sunshine and fresh air to boost our mood and top up our serotonin levels, which elevate that sense of calm and contentment. Research shows we need to spend a minimum of 120 minutes a week outdoors (that’s around 17 minutes) to maintain our mental health. More time is better.
2. We are more relaxed and at ease.
When stress and anxiety are your constant companion, it’s hard to think and be at your best. Being in a green of blue space changes our perspective, we start noticing more of what is around us. It alleviates mental fatigue brought on by too much time in front of a screen so you can focus better when you return to the office.
3. It stimulates play and creativity.
Sending our kids out to play outdoors has been shown to assist their cognitive development, love of learning and making sense of the world, and social skills, not to mention improving balance and increasing their overall level of physical activity.
It’s also known that, for young children, getting enough natural light into their eyes is critical to normal eye development. This means they need to spend between one to two hours outside every day to minimise their risk of developing myopia or short-sightedness. It’s currently estimated that 50% of people around the world will be shortsighted by 2050 unless we act now. That’s over 4 billion people btw.
Nature connection matters at every age.
4. Awe and wonder increase joy and connection to the world around us.
If you’ve ever spent time looking up at the night sky marvelling at the myriad of stars and galaxies above or watched a spider weaving its web, or examined the delicate beauty and pattern of a leaf, you are experiencing awe, the simultaneous sensation of joy and incredulity. Creating more awesome moments starts by simply slowing down to take in your surroundings.
5. Engage with all your senses for the full multi-sensory event.
While sight is our dominant sense, closely followed by sound, let’s not forget the importance of smell, taste and touch.
Research has shown that scents lower stress more than sight and sound. Aromatherapy and essential oils are soothing (and enhance sleep), while touch is enormously comforting. That’s why we love stroking our pets or having a massage.
What if your GP or health provider recommended a session with a trained Forest Therapy Guide to improve your overall health and well-being? This is what social green prescribing is all about and the evidence is growing; it works!
Every day is an opportunity to get outside and drink in nature, to feel better, to function better and enjoy better health and happiness.
Won’t you join me for a walk in the park?
With grateful thanks to Susan Joachim and Dr. Dieter Kotte from the International Nature and Forest Therapy Alliance for the opportunity to provide this session.
