How does nature impact our wellbeing? Research reveals that environments can increase or reduce our stress, which in turn impacts our bodies. What you are seeing, hearing, experiencing at any moment is changing not only your mood, but how your nervous, endocrine, and immune systems are working.

Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and the production of stress hormones. It may even reduce mortality, according to scientists such as public health researchers Stamatakis and Mitchell.

Research done in hospitals, offices, and schools has found that even a simple plant in a room can have a significant impact on stress and anxiety.

In addition, nature helps us cope with pain. Because we are genetically programmed to find trees, plants, water, and other nature elements engrossing, we are absorbed by nature scenes and distracted from our pain and discomfort.

Growing things like food or flowers, exercising outdoors or being around animals can have lots of positive effects. It can:
* improve your mood
* reduce feelings
* help you take time out
* improve your physical health
* improve your confidence
* help you meet and get to know new people
* connect you to your local community.

If you want to increase your overall health, try to walk outside your door and find the nearest park, forest or living greenery to enjoy nature’s benefits.