Ecopsycology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health

A growing body of research point to the beneficial effects that exposure to the natural world has on health, reducing stress and promoting healing. Now, policymakers, employers, and healthcare providers are increasingly considering the human need for nature in how they plan and operate.

In a recent study of 20,000 people, led by Mathew White of the European Centre for Environment & Human Health found that people who spent two hours a week in green spaces -- local parks or other natural environments, either all at once or spaced over several visits -- were substantially more likely to report good health and psychological well-being than those who don't.

The study by White and his colleagues is only the latest in a rapidly expanding area of research that finds nature has robust effects on people's health -- physically, mentally, and emotionally.

https://e360.yale.edu/features/ecopsychology-how-immersion-in-nature-benefits-your-health