Introduction:
The sight of the beautiful world outside can create an ecstatic feeling in all individuals. Nature includes green spaces like forests, woodlands, and parks or blue spaces like beaches, rivers, canals, or wetlands. Nature therapy involves therapy programs and other guided nature-oriented activities focusing on improving one’s mental health. Various types of nature therapy include horticultural therapy, forest bathing, animal-assisted therapy, and wilderness therapy. Nature therapy is also referred to as green therapy, green exercise, or green care.
How Did Nature Therapy Evolve?
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), nature therapy is an emerging field with a lot of research underway because of its numerous health benefits. But, the concept of nature therapy is not something new. For example, Ayurveda is a traditional and ancient medical system in India that encompasses natural or natural-based approaches for treating various physical and mental illnesses.
In the same way, traditional Chinese medicine believes in the fact that humans are linked to nature and are exclusively affected by its forces. In the 1970s, researchers started studying the influence of mother nature on human health, and the results showed that scenes of nature were linked with positive feelings of affection, joy, and friendliness. Various other studies have also discovered similar positive effects of nature on one’s mental health.
What Is the Principle of Nature Therapy?
The principles of nature therapy are pretty simple. It involves integrating nature into one or the other kind of mental health or therapeutic practice. One way to get involved in nature therapy is to visit a therapist in an outdoor environment rather than in a clinical setup. This could be in a park, beach, and so on. Nature therapy can also be practiced indoors by keeping indoor plants inside, using visualization techniques, or observing nature through a window.
What Are the Types of Nature Therapy?
Various types of nature therapy are as follows:
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Horticultural Therapy: This can involve gardening, caring for, watering, or just spending time with plants in an indoor environment.
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Wilderness Therapy: This therapy involves engrossing oneself in nature by hiking or camping in the wilderness and participating in survival-skills training and exercises. Engaging in these kinds of programs boosts one’s self-confidence, helps one gain trust, overcome negative thoughts and beliefs, and improves communication skills. Wilderness therapy is ideal for teenagers or young adults who find it difficult to cope with tough situations.
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Forest Therapy: Forest therapy is in accordance with the Japanese art of shinrin-yoku, which refers to forest bathing. According to the International Nature and Forest Therapy Alliance (INFTA), forest therapy is a research-supported practice of assisted immersion in forests to enhance one’s physical and mental health while relaxing and enjoying in a forest. The advantages of forest therapy or forest bathing include reduced stress, increased physical activity, and enhanced relaxation.
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Animal-Assisted Therapy: As the name suggests, this therapy focuses on spending time with animals. This can be done outdoors on a farm or indoors by spending time with pets like dogs. Equine-assisted therapy is a therapeutic process that focuses on spending time with horses for therapy. Animal-assisted therapy sessions involve feeding, grooming, or petting animals under the guidance of a trained therapist.
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Green Exercise: This involves engaging in physical activity and exposure to nature. This includes doing any exercise in nature, like running, cycling, gardening, walking, or horse riding. This is not natural therapy since it is not supervised by a therapist or professional but offers numerous benefits.
What Are the Pathways to Building a New Relationship With Nature?
The following are the five pathways:
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Senses: Observing, imbibing, and getting engrossed with nature like listening to the chirping of birds, smelling the flowers, or watching the movement of the waves.
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Emotion: Rejoicing the joy and calmness that nature offers. For example, talking about one’s feelings about nature.
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Beauty: Taking some time to appreciate the beauty of nature.
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Meaning: Observing and visualizing how nature adds meaning to life, like exploring how nature appears in poems, songs, arts, or stories.
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Compassion: Doing activities that are good for nature, like using eco-friendly products.
What Are the Benefits of Nature Therapy?
One of the primary benefits of nature therapy is that it is rather inexpensive, and everyone has access to nature. Some of the benefits of nature therapy are as follows:
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Promotes Social Connection: Nature therapy often involves group therapy settings which enables one to establish a connection with other individuals. For example, community gardening can help alleviate loneliness, aids one in establishing a friendly and new relationship with others, and so on. One can find individuals with similar interests by joining various groups or clubs.
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Motivation: Nature therapy exercises make one go outdoors and perform physical activity. Exercise can improve one’s sleep quality and also improve physical and mental health. Going out and inhaling fresh air can lift one’s mood, and warm sunshine can have a direct positive effect on one’s anxiety and depression.
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Mindfulness: Spending more time in nature sharpens one’s senses to listen and experience the sounds in their surroundings. Listening to the sounds of waves, chirping of birds, and rustling of leaves can help one withdraw from the daily stressors of everyday life. It also enables one to focus on the present rather than brooding over worrisome thoughts. By spending more time in nature, one can unintentionally develop a mindfulness habit. Research shows that the sounds of nature can aid in faster recovery of the nervous system in stressful individuals.
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May Help With ADHD: Frequent exposure to nature and engaging in outdoor activities have been found to reduce the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. This has been found to be beneficial in both boys and girls from all income groups.
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Can Help Manage Symptoms of PTSD: Various types of nature therapy have been found to be beneficial for those living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
What Type of Illnesses Can Improve With Nature Therapy?
The following types of illnesses can improve with nature therapy:
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Dementia (a mental condition that affects one’s ability to think, remember, and behave normally).
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Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD (a disorder that arises in those who have experienced a dangerous, shocking, or scary event).
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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD (a mental condition resulting in abnormal hyperactivity and impulsive behaviors).
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Medical recovery.
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Less stress and reduced pain.
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Mood alteration.
Not everyone who follows nature therapy is affected by a mental condition. However, everyone who practices nature therapy can experience the benefits. Nature therapy is not ideal for those who have had previous traumatic experiences in nature, like in the woods, beaches, and so on. It might also not be ideal for those with severe mental illness who experience hallucinations or delusions.
Can One Try Nature Therapy on Their Own?
Yes, one can try nature therapy, provided one can read weather or wildlife advisories when spending time in a new area, hiking, or a long time outdoors. Keeping this in mind, one can dive to explore nature-based wellness practice in the following ways:
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Begin With Informal Trash Pickup: One can carry a pair of gloves and a trash bag when going on a walk daily and collect litter from the neighborhood. This offers the dual benefits of spending time outdoors as well as keeping the neighborhood clean. It is also possible to grab the attention of other like-minded individuals in the process.
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Gardening: A kind of healthy bacteria called Mycobacterium vaccae present in the soil helps trigger the release of serotonin (happy hormone). One must get fully engrossed in gardening by experiencing the feel of soil in one’s hands, admiring the beauty of blooming flowers, inhaling the scent of the soil, and so on.
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Nighttime Nature Therapy: A study conducted in 2014 showed that engaging in ‘dark nature’ activities like stargazing could provide identical benefits to daytime nature therapy, which includes inducing a sense of calmness, relaxation, and increased connection with the outside world.
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A Day With Trees: It is not possible for everyone to have forests nearby, but one can try forest bathing in a tree-rich area whenever possible. While spending time in such areas, one should get deeply absorbed in the surroundings and pay attention to what they hear, see, and smell. One should not mind touching the ground, trees, or leaves and experiencing the feel. A few activities that can be done in tree-rich areas include meditation, reading a book under a tree, drawing, and so on. It is better to avoid any electric gadgets while spending time in nature.
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Shift Regular Activities Outdoors: Even if it is not possible to do forest bathing frequently, one can shift their regular activities outdoors, like hiking or running along park trails instead of exercising at the gym, reading by sitting on a bench under a tree, picnicking in a beautiful natural setting, and so on. Friends and families can be invited to join to make the time even more enjoyable.
Conclusion:
Nature therapy or ecotherapy is a natural, accessible, inexpensive way of relaxing the mind and improving an individual's mental health. This can be done individually or by taking help from a therapist. Various types of research are underway to explore the mental health benefits of nature therapy. A therapist may work to minimize risks associated with nature therapy, like sunburn, falls, insect bites, bee stings, seasonal allergies, and contact with poisonous plants. Though nature therapy does not offer a miracle cure, it positively impacts mental health.
