This is probably something you’ve been told a million times, and it can be pretty annoying to hear but it’s a good bit of advice and that’s why it’s included here. Taking just 20 mins a day outside in nature can significantly reduce stress hormones, help you sleep better & ease anxiety, fact. And if the worst comes to the worst, you don’t even have to go outside…

What it can help with:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Sleep quality
• Clear head
• Increases vitamin D & oxygen levels

Change your chemistry

Getting more oxygen to your brain increases serotonin. As a bonus, if you mix this with exercise, it increases the production of endorphins. Both serotonin & endorphins are mood-enhancing neurotransmitters and help you to feel clear-headed & calmer. 

Researchers in a study by Stanford University found that people who walked for 90 minutes in a natural area, rather than a more built-up, urban setting, showed decreased activity in a part of the brain associated with depression. 

The Japanese tradition of “Shinrinyoku”, or forest bathing, is the practice of making short, leisurely visits to a forest to you and me. It has also become extremely popular and for good reason. The research shows that forest bathing could significantly reduce anxiety, depression, and anger, among others.

Improve your sleep

Being exposed to natural light reduces melatonin, a hormone that plays an important role in regulating our sleep. Our melatonin levels rise after dark, increase as we sleep and then reduce once it’s time to wake up. By getting sunlight at the right time of day, you start to produce melatonin more healthily & consistently. 

And if you can’t bring yourself to go outside…

It happens! Sometimes, we just can’t face it, no matter how much we try. It is detrimental to go into a spiral of guilt and disappointment for not doing what you ‘should’, so it’s important to forgive and be kind to yourself. 

The subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between reality and imagination. By visualising nature, it tells the subconscious mind it’s happening and the brain will fire off the same messages to the rest of your body as if it were true.  

Studies also show that just looking at photos of nature, or visualising being in nature, can significantly improve relaxation & reduce stress levels. Of course, you don’t get the physical benefits such as sunlight or fresh air, but you can mimic these to an extent with natural light lamps, air-purifying plants, and even Himalayan salt lamps. Even opening your windows helps!