This week is mental health awareness week (10th-16th) May. It comes as no surprise for us at Sweatcoin that mental health experts recommend walking in nature to help relieve stress.
Content published by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) to promote mental health awareness week reveals how nature plays a critical role in mental health. They use the recent pandemic as an example, but there are countless medical studies to support their claim.
Sweatcoin has been a supporter of nature walks for years and fully endorse the work of the MHF. Walking in nature has numerous benefits.
A growing body of evidence underpinning the healing qualities of nature has even led to UK doctors prescribing nature walks to their patients as an alternative remedy to typical pharmaceutical drugs.
Walking in Nature Relieves Stress
We naturally live stressful lifestyles that can have a negative impact on mental health. Our brains need time to rest and recuperate yet most days is computing approximately 11 million bits per second.
The amount of strain the brain is put under eventually leads to overload and burnout. Stress hormones are also the cause of numerous illnesses and mood swings.
Nature walks help to relieve stress and anxiety. Researchers at the geriatric psychiatry at Harvard-affiliated Cambridge Health Alliance say spending more time outdoors can lift your mood.
The Japanese have a culture of forest bathing to help reprieve them from stressful lifestyles. In the west, ecotherapy is growing in popularity among mental health practitioners.
If you feel like you need to boost your mood and mental wellbeing this week, why not escape the city and go walking in nature.
And if you have young children that don’t show any interest, take a look at our article ‘How to get kids excited about nature walks’ for some tips.
