Green Therapy: How Nature Benefits Mental Health and Wellbeing

With all the mental health counseling masters programs online these days, you would think that there'd be a bit more knowledge floating about regarding the realities of mental health and illness. It's become quite a meme these days that when you tell someone you have a depressive or anxiety disorder, well-meaning though ultimately ignorant people will pipe up with these suggestions:

• Did you drink water?
• Have you gotten any exercise?
• You should go for a walk!
• You just need to do some deep breathing for a while.

These suggestions, especially hot on the heels of a deeply intimate admission, can often feel blaze, even uncaring. However, as much as we don't want to feed the myth that mental health can be cured, there is some slight truth in that comfort can be found in the natural world.

The Natural History of Health

Have you ever wondered where medicines come from? After all, there was a time when people didn't have chemistry or chemical equipment. There was a time before sophisticated medical science, proper doctoring, and the Hippocratic oath. What did the people living in this time do?

They turned to nature.

Mankind's earliest histories are filled with religions tied to the natural world and nature. Certain flowers, herbs, trees, and natural landmarks were thought to signal the presence of the divine. Gifts left from the world of Gods with horns, three expected goddesses, and when the self was seen as inextricably tied to nature; and therefore the divine.

Some of the earliest pharmaceutical relief products were tinctures, salves, balms, and incense, which were believed to bring about magical healing through rituals conducted by those educated in their uses. In this way, medical science and spirituality are inherently connected. While some of these were phased out with time and scientific study—others were found to be quite effective, and natural ingredients that were found to have consistent medical results were synthesized into their pure chemical forms for pharmaceutical use.

Scientific Development or Forgotten Ways?

There is no question that modern medical science is far more efficient and safe than the traditional plant-and-potion-based remedies of the ancients. However, does that mean there's nothing for nature to offer us medically?

Scientific research seems to think quite the opposite.

While natural remedies are still very much in use to supplement scientifically proven medicine, they are rarely the go-to solution anymore. However, caring for the physical body is quite a different beast from caring for the mind. Over the years there have been endless proposed treatments for maladies of the mental and emotional self. If nature holds comfort for the physical body, does it also hold remedies for the mind?

The answer, according to medical authorities, seems to be "yes."

Green Therapy for a Green Mind

We typically tend to associate green with positivity. This association likely is a leftover from our ancestral spiritualities, as green is also considered a natural "earthy" color owing to our planet's green foliage. This association has led to the term "green therapy," meaning the use of nature to alleviate symptoms of mental illness.

A study conducted by Stanford and published on June 29th, 2015, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, showed that people who spent 90 minutes on a nature walk showed decreased activity in a particular area of the brain closely associated with depression. This coincides with research stating that people who live in urban areas are more likely to experience an anxiety or mood disorder, as well as more likely to develop psychotic or addictive disorders.

Being in natural environs has also been linked to several inherently mental-illness mitigating phenomena. Spending time outdoors has been linked to improved sleep, elevated mood, increased happiness, and reduced stress.

Focusing on that for a moment, the fact that time spent in nature improves sleep is drastically important in and of itself. Sleep, the quality and quantity of it, has been linked to mental wellbeing for years and is a known factor in mental health. If spending time in nature improves sleep, as well as imparting its quantitative benefits then that speaks for itself.

How to Engage in Green Therapy

Green therapy is special in that it requires little time and minimal effort and, depending on your activity of choice, is free.

Being around animals has proven to be incredibly therapeutic for many reasons. An animal's unbridled affection and natural care-free state encourage the same emotional responses in those around them. Pets represent a form of non-judgemental company, where someone can be completely at ease with no worrying about social graces or saying the wrong thing. And company and affection are some of the greatest natural remedies to psychological distress.

Another method is "Shinrin Yoku," or "forest bathing." This means to immerse yourself in nature through the senses. This means that while you take a walk or do any activity outdoors, be mindfully aware of the sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes. It is a form of wellness through mindfulness, as well as a practice of inserting yourself into the moment. A study has found that it was incredibly helpful for mental health, particularly when addressing anxiety.

There are many methods of Green Therapy, which is part of what makes it so special. Not only is it potentially free, but it's accessible, completely controlled by you, and extremely effective. Green therapy has existed in one form or another for centuries, but with recent scientific backing up the fact that humans can gain immense well-being and comfort from indulging in our connection to nature, green therapy is now no longer merely a knee-jerk response from well-meaning boomers.

Our ancestors knew that nature was good for us as human beings, and though we have built on the foundation of spirit with the rigor of science—science too has encouraged us to return to our roots. So to speak.

It is important to remember, however, that green therapy can only alleviate and supplement—not cure.