Mental Health Benefits of Nature

 That’s because time outside has studied and proven benefits for your mental health. 

Spending time in green space or bringing nature into your everyday life can benefit both your mental and physical wellbeing. For example, doing things like growing food or flowers, exercising outdoors or being around animals can have lots of positive effects. 

It can: improve your mood, reduce stress or anxiety, help you to feel more relaxed, improve your physical health, improve your creativity and your self-esteem. 

We all have different experiences of nature, and different reasons for wanting to connect with it more – or feeling unsure about whether to try. 

Spending time in nature has been found to help with mental health problems including anxiety and depression. For example, research into ecotherapy (a type of formal treatment which involves doing activities outside in nature) has shown it can help with mild to moderate depression.  

This might be due to combining regular physical activity and social contact with being outside in nature.

Research shows a link between exposure to nature and stress reduction. Stress is relieved within minutes of exposure to nature as measured by muscle tension, blood pressure and brain activity. Time in green spaces significantly reduces your cortisol, which is a stress  hormone. Nature also boosts endorphin levels and dopamine production, which promotes happiness.

Well, if you are reading this article it’s probably because you are going to go to Costa Rica for your next holidays. And you’re right! Let’s me explain why:

With only 0.3 % of the world’s land mass and 4 percent of the world’s species, Costa Rica is often cited as having the highest species per area unit in the world. The government of Costa Rica seeking to maintain this idyllic tropical setting has designated approximately one-fourth of the land to protected areas (national parks, wildlife refuges) for the conservation of the biodiversity. Costa Rica also boasts many volcanoes, both active and inactive, that have been declared national parks.

So, are you ready for nature dose?