Tip# 5 – Get Out in Nature to Reduce Your Worry

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You might have heard people say that “Nature is the best Antidepressant” and it is true. It will help you to feel calmer but if your condition is serious than you would need pills and therapy.

In 2015 a study came out from Stanford University which was titled:

Nature Experience Reduces Rumination and Subgenual Prefrontal Cortex Activation

The study took 38 healthy participants males and females who where between ages 18-26. They were split into two groups the urban group and the nature group.

For both groups the researchers measured:

• Self reported rumination levels
• Volume of blood passing through Subgenual Prefrontal Cortex (MRI scan)

“On arrival at our laboratory, each participant completed a self report measure of rumination (RRQ) and underwent our scanning procedure. We then randomly assigned each participant to a 90-min walk in either a natural environment (19 participants) or urban environment (19 participants). The nature walk took place near Stanford University, in a greenspace comprising grassland with scattered oak trees and shrubs. The urban walk took place on the busiest thoroughfare in nearby Palo Alto (El Camino Real), a street with three to four lanes in each direction and a steady stream of traffic (Fig. S1). After the walk, each participant returned to the laboratory and provided a second, follow-up self-report of levels of rumination (RRQ) before undergoing a second resting-state ASL scan.”

“The results of the study seem to match the hypothesis that for healthy participants, a 90-minute walk in a natural setting, decreased both ruminative thinking and neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, whereas a 90-minute walk in an urban setting had no such effects on either rumination or neural activity. In other words, walking in a natural environment seems to open up your thinking in a way that lessens the grip of the faulty brain network.”

MICHIGAN STATE PRISON 

According to Table 1, if you subtract 28.4-22.9 = 5.5% difference of not getting sick because the cells were looking out onto farmland. The main difference however can be seen in cell block #12. To live in cell block #12 prisoners had to meet this criteria: 

1.Should not have had any faulty behaviour for one year prior (clearer conscious)

2.Must have a prison job (daily purpose)

3.Specifically request a cell in that section (freedom to choose)

“This seems to indicate that self-determination and the amount of control over one’s life, has some direct relationship to the amount of stress that people experience. Throughout this study, attendance at sick call was utilized as an indirect measure of stress”. P.181

So, go ahead and find a near by park to walk or run in. You do not have to do it alone, find a friend or get a dog if you think it will help you to be more active.

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