“It’s not clear exactly why outdoor excursions have such a positive mental effect. Yet, in a 2015 study, researchers compared the brain activity of healthy people after they walked for 90 minutes in either a natural setting or an urban one. They found that those who did a nature walk had lower activity in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region that is active during rumination — defined as repetitive thoughts that focus on negative emotions.
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‘Anything from 20 to 30 minutes, three days a week, to regular three-day weekends in the woods is helpful,’ says Dr. Strauss. ‘The point is to make your interactions a part of your normal lifestyle.'”
Read more on Get Back to Nature: Research Suggests That Mood Disorders Can Be Lifted by Spending More Time Outdoors (July 2018) via Harvard’s Men’s Health Watch.
Images of Cheakamus Centre (2019) via Jacqueline Ashby.
#GetBackToNature #EnjoyTheOutdoors
UBC Family Practice Residency Program: Abbotsford-Mission Site 