It doesn’t have to be complicated. Read on to learn how just 20 minutes a day in nature can improve your physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.
Lately, it seems like the health world has been inundated with information about why spending time in nature is good for you and trendy methods to do it. “Earthing,” or “grounding” promotes physical contact with the earth’s electrons; “shinrin-yoku” or “forest bathing” facilitates healing while immersing yourself in a forest environment; and “nature bathing” resets the body and the soul. But no matter what you call it, it all leads back to one truth: there are tangible, proven benefits of nature.
What is earthing?
While the words can really be used interchangeably to talk about getting outdoors, proponents of earthing, or grounding, promote walking barefoot because they believe the ground can neutralize electrical potential, and therefore, potentially have some benefits. There isn’t any research to support this mechanism, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reap nature’s benefits, or that it might feel nice to take off your shoes and feel the ground.
The Japanese art of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, on the other hand, has been extensively studied. It involves taking in nature through your senses: listening to the sounds, touching natural textures, observing the environment, and smelling a bright floral note or earthy mushroom on the forest floor. (Read: no exercise needed!) Research has found the practice can help with everything from depression and anxiety to fatigue and blood pressure. And if those activities sound too mellow for you, you can also benefit by taking your workout outside. Exercising outdoors “was associated with greater feelings of revitalization, increased energy and positive engagement, together with decreases in tension, confusion, anger, and depression,” found research in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.