Gregory Bratman and Kristine Engemann’s scientific research showed that close contact with nature increases happiness and well-being. Moreover, it decreases anxiety, depression, and addictions in both children and adults.
When we step into a river, lake, or ocean, walk through a forest listening to the birds, look at a sunrise or sunset, or hike up a mountain, changes in our body and mind are instantaneous. All these experiences lead to deep relaxation, stress reduction, and increased stress resilience.
Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system and the fight, flight, and freeze response resulting in increased heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar. The body and brain can cope with short-term stress. If the stress persists and becomes chronic, it can lead to poor attention and memory, digestive problems, infertility, sleep disturbances, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and lack of emotional control.
Interoception is a branch of neurobiology that has been rapidly gaining attention in recent years. Interoception is part of the body’s natural wisdom, allowing us to receive and process sensations from our physical body.
As we develop an awareness of our body sensations, we become aligned with the body’s natural rhythms. By maintaining an intimate connection with our bodies, we experience a sense of well-being and are less likely to struggle with emotional and mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, and eating disorders.
Through the awareness of sensations, we are able to respond promptly and take appropriate corrective action – for example, to the body’s desire to move or to sleep; the bodily cues of hunger or thirst; the sensation of cold, heat, or pain; the feeling of bladder and bowel fullness. The body is directly linked to the health of our mind. A mind not rooted in the body becomes unhealthy and lost in its own repetitive emotional and thinking patterns, which happens in many mental health problems.
Our era of digital culture, including cell phones, computers, the internet, and video games dominates the lives of the masses, particularly young people, resulting in disconnection from the body.
When we become disconnected from our bodies, we are prone to emotional and mental health problems, which are rising rapidly in today’s world. More than ever before, it is essential to emphasize reconnecting to our bodies to optimize our mental health. One of the most effective ways to reconnect to the body is by connecting to nature.
Also read: Importance of Mental Health in Today’s World (7 Reasons Why)
How Nature Benefits Mental Health?
How will connecting to nature reconnect us to our bodies? It can be explained from three points of view.
Science
Physics and neurobiology conclusively show that our bodies result from billions of years of evolution. Their formation started with the emergence of the universe, stars, and galaxies. They contain the same elements of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, iron, sulfur, and phosphorus, of which stars, galaxies, and planets are formed. Each day, more stardust falls on the earth. It becomes part of the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the food we eat. We have a body made from stardust.
Each human being is composed of a combination of minerals, forces, and energy collectively moving upon the earth. Our bodies are inhabited by a vast number of microorganisms, and we share the same movement of life with them.
We are inseparable from all non-living and living things in nature, in physical and concrete ways. This connection is not only through feelings and thinking, but also directly, with each cell in our bodies, from the brain to the bones. Our body is a micro-universe in all its dimensions. Our body is a direct extension of nature.
Ayurveda
Ayurveda is the ancient healing system from India, and it means the science of life. Ayurveda is the most comprehensive system available for natural remedies and cures. According to Ayurveda, our body-mind and the rest of nature are made up of the same five elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space.
From the Ayurvedic point of view, our body is the extension of nature and is influenced by seasons, sun, moon, stars, and other natural phenomena. Therefore, if we connect to nature, we are also connecting to the body. Connection with the body via the special sense of Interoception will decrease the incidence and severity of mental illness and keep us mentally healthy.
Also read: Summer Health Tips: How to Align Your Routine with Grishma Ritu?
Chakras
Chakras are part of Kundalini Yoga and provide a way of thinking about the evolution of the body and mind as well as potential human growth in the future. Out of seven major chakras, the lower two, the root or Mooladhar and energy or Swadhisthan, are responsible for the formation of the body and the life energy flowing through it.
From the chakra point of view, if the first two chakras are functioning well, we will be rooted in our bodies and filled with vitality which will keep us physically and mentally healthy. Those two chakras will function well if we remain connected to nature.
In summary, science, Ayurveda, and the chakra system all illustrate how nature helps us remain connected with the body. If we stay connected with the body, we will enjoy good emotional and mental health and a sense of well-being.
How Nature Nurtures Humans?
We are coming up with a series of blogs with Dr. Jivasu which will help us in giving a deeper insight and understanding of the concept of ‘Somatofulness’; how nature is nurturing to humans.
Dr Jivasu’s teachings are called “Somatofulness” which explores the path of the body for maximum living and fulfillment. Jivasu feels that the path of the body is the most direct and simple way for healing, attaining emotional and mental health, experiencing the fullness of life, and living in synergy with nature. Jivasu is an Indian physician who is living in Canada. Along with his wife Karen, a Canadian doctor, he served in the remote villages of the Indian Himalayas for 11 years.
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