by Laura
It may really surprise you how much you
can benefit from spending just an hour in a natural setting. They are
even calling it Vitamin N – n for Nature. You can take a
walk in the park or spend time in a home or office designed to take
advantage of views of nature.
Hospitals designed with nature in mind
find that patients have less stress, can heal faster, and need less
pain meds.
A 2008 study by the University of
Michigan showed that hour-long “doses” of nature
helped people not only deal with stress, but they had a 20 percent
better attention span, and also showed improved memory. And in
2012, a University of Kansas study showed people had as much
as a 50 percent improvement in creativity after being immersed
in a natural setting for a few days.
It is a bit hard to apply these
findings because there is little description of the Vitamin N
exposure that the participants were given.
But still, we can offer some popular
ways of getting back in touch with nature. Such as:
1- Plant a garden, preferably
something that will attract some wildlife, birds or butterflies that
you can enjoy watching.
2- Encourage your children to
interact with nature in a creative way. Small children often
spend hours in a sand box. Take them on a nature walk to pick up
interesting leaves in the fall that they can use in art projects at
home.
3- Join a group at a nature center
for spring and fall hikes to note the change in seasons and
migrating birds.
4- Taking up photography forces
you to look for subjects out there in fields and parks, or even in
your back yard.
5- Put a comfortable chair on a
patio, porch or sun room to watch the change in seasons.
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