John Muir, environmentalist and nature conservationist, once said, “The mountains are calling, and I must go”. As humans we have, most of us at least, a yearning to be in the wild, spend too much time in the city and the mountains will call you too. But a recent study found that our animalistic connection to nature greatly benefits our human lives. A Japanese study took 420 participants to different forests in Japan and found that just sitting in nature yielded the following results: a 12.4 percent decrease in cortisol—a hormone triggered by stress, a 7 percent decrease in sympathetic (fight-or-flight) nervous activity, and a 5.8 percent decrease in heart rate, among other benefits. So will sitting in your local park every once in a while yields the same results? The researchers say no, a once a month trip to the forest is the most effective way to maximize nature’s benefits.
Nature reduces stress
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