RELATING - A Natural Connection

The key to good health-for us and the planet-lies in rekindling our relationship to the dirt and the trees.

- ELISABETH KWAK-HEFFERAN

QUICK QUESTION: When was the last time you sat-like, really sat-in a park? There's a good chance it's been a while. Only 22% of Americans spend time in nature at least once a week, according to a 2019 survey conducted by APM Research Lab.

Not awesome. Decades of robust studies have shown that fresh air and greenery and the great outdoors profoundly benefit pretty much every measure of our well-being. Nature is so good for us, it's actually crucial, says Peter James, ScD, associate professor of environmental health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and associate professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School. "We have to think about nature as an essential need for us as human beings," he adds. The reason has to do with our hardwiring, says Kim Meidenbauer, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Washington State University. "A lot of theories say that most of our evolutionary history took place in natural environments," she explains. "These spaces fulfill a fundamental need."

How does the earth do our bodies good? Let us count the ways. In the short term, walking in a green space can turn your mood around. A 2022 review and meta-analysis of seven studies from seven countries in the Journal of Clinical Medicine found that people with depression or anxiety always experienced fewer symptoms after a walk in nature-even if their stroll was as short as 15 minutes. In the longer term, living in an area with more green space is linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a longer life span, according to a 2021 paper published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.