If you have ever felt better after you watched a beautiful sunset, smelled a flower, or worked in a garden, you may be able to attest to the power of nature for boosting mental health. At The Pavilion in Williamsburg, Virginia, we believe in taking a holistic approach to behavioral health treatment. This means being open to how time outdoors can promote emotional and physical well-being.
Benefits of Spending Time Outdoors
Scientific research has connected nature exposure to:
- Improved cognition, especially in relation to focus and decision-making
- Better ability to regulate emotions
- Healthier blood pressure and lower risk of cardiovascular disease
- Elevated mood and better mental health, with particular improvements in anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms
- Greater physical activity
- Better sleep
As little as two hours per week of exposure to green spaces has been found to yield big benefits.
Why Nature Heals Us
There are two theories about why spending time in natural environments helps us to feel better:
- Attention Restoration Theory – mental fatigue from modern life makes it more difficult for us to focus our attention, but getting out of the daily grind reduces our mental fatigue and allows us to regain the ability to direct our attention.
- Stress Reduction Theory – spending time in nature might influence our feelings and emotions through our nervous system, reducing stress levels.
How Children Benefit From Green Spaces
For children, time in nature is particularly beneficial in addressing problems with attention. It also offers them opportunities for activities that promote healthy development, such as:
- Discovery
- Healthy risk-taking
- Mastery
- Control
- Connection to others
Nature Therapy
It only makes sense, knowing that nature is good for our health, that we would formalize the benefits into what is now known as nature therapy. It is also sometimes called eco therapy or green therapy. Nature therapy is overseen by a trained facilitator who offers professional support, like a therapist. It takes place in some sort of green environment, like a park, forest, or garden and involves appreciating and exploring nature for the sake of mental health.
Types of Nature Therapy
Nature therapy can take a variety of different forms, some of which include:
- Adventure therapy – in a group or individual setting, the therapist guides participants through rafting, rock climbing, and other outdoor activities.
- Animal-assisted interventions – dogs and horses are frequently part of this type of therapy, which may take place on farms or other places where participants can pet, feed, and otherwise interact with animals.
- Arts and crafts – this type of therapy may involve using natural materials and/or green spaces to create art.
- Conservation – physical exercise and protecting natural spaces are part of this type of therapy.
- Dark nature – this intervention involves stargazing and other nighttime activities.
- Green exercise – physical activities in green spaces, such as going for a walk, run, or bicycle ride are often part of this therapy.
- Therapeutic farming or horticulture – this therapy type involves growing plants on a farm or in a garden.
Overcoming Barriers to Accessing Nature
Not everyone lives on a farm or near the woods. For some people, their location or mobility concerns can make it more difficult to access green spaces. Fortunately, there are more initiatives now to make nature accessible to everyone, including people in Virginia.
- Accessible Virginia is a travel guide for people with disabilities that helps them to identify travel opportunities within Virginia that are accessible for people with mobility limitations. The website is broken into geographic regions and includes information about outdoor recreation.
- The Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) has made a series of grants to increase accessible, publicly available, green spaces throughout Virginia, many of them in underserved communities.
- The Science Museum of Virginia also operates a publicly accessible green space known as The Green, which is a six-acre park in Richmond containing trees, native plants, and paved pathways.
It is also possible to enjoy nature on a small scale, even in many urban areas or on a tight budget. Container gardens are one way that people who don’t have yard space or big budgets can enjoy having plants on their decks or patios. Seed libraries are a great resource for obtaining free seeds, and many thrifty gardeners get free planters by repurposing containers that once held cat litter, laundry detergent, or food items.
At The Pavilion, we provide acute care for adults and seniors with serious mental health concerns. We want all of our patients to be able to live their lives to the fullest by having experiences and building skills that promote their well-being, such as learning how to integrate time in nature into their routines.
