Time spent in the countryside or on a beach is better for your brain than trips to city gardens or parks
This article proves I made the right call when I decided to set up a business concentrating on rural and coastal work. It tells us:
Asking participants to describe their visits and overall experience, the team found that trips to nature were linked to greater feelings of relaxation and refreshment.
This was especially true of visits to rural or coastal locations, and to protected sites, which were also linked to stronger emotional connections to the natural world.
Visits longer than 30 minutes were associated with a better connection and so had greater psychological benefits.
The study, from researchers at the University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Plymouth, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, and natural England, surveyed 4,500 people as they spent time in nature.
The team investigated for the first time how different environmental settings and their quality impacts psychological wellbeing.
Lead author of the paper Dr Kayleigh Wyles, from the University of Surrey, said: ‘We’ve demonstrated for some time that nature can be beneficial to us, but we’re still exploring how and why