I’m loving this warm Spring.
It means I can work outside… and, when I look up from my laptop, my screen break looks like this…
I can hear the birds…
Watch the breeze move the trees…
Feel the filtered sun on my body… and breathe…
It’s like I’m working in nature.
I am working in nature… and I can already feel the benefits.
I know I am so lucky to have this outlook, and I make sure I stop and acknowledge this every day.
A 2019 UK study found spending at least 120 minutes a week in green spaces has significant health and well-being benefits.
In another study, research by Australian and UK environmental scientists found if people spent just half an hour in their local park each week, there could be a cut in the number of cases of depression and high blood pressure.
But it said 40 per cent of Brisbane residents don’t visit a park in a typical week, and more needs to be done to encourage people to spend more time in green spaces.
There are programs such as NaturePlay Australia, an initiative inspiring kids to play in nature.
But that only runs in a few places, and what about adults?
In the United States they have Park Prescription programs, which are part of the ParkRx initiative.
This community health initiative partners with the National Park Service to get more people outdoors.
Their website has a Park Prescription Program Toolkit which includes a graphic noting the health benefits (with citations to more reseach).
Some of these benefits include:
– Spending time outdoors is associated with improved distance vision
– Time spent in places with natural landscaping can encourage social interactions and integrations
– Exposure to nature can improve depression, anxiety, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
– Exercising outdoors can reduce sadness, anger and fatigue and improve attention spans
– For the elderley, time outdoors in a natural setting can improve cogition
The site also has a prescription pad so health or social service providers can encourage, or ‘prescribe’ people to spend time in nature to improve their health and wellbeing.
…writing your clients a prescription can serve as a powerful reminder to go to the park.
As an aside (and because I didn’t know this) Rx is an abbreviation for prescription and relays to pharmacists that a prescription is authorized to be filled.
Of course I had to check this didn’t I?!
Sure enough any scripts I can find all have eRx on them (for electronic prescription).
I find the Park Prescription programs both ingenious and terribly sad at the same time.
Great for someone to prescribe time in nature rather than a long list of medications (although in many cases probably a bit of both is appropriate).
Sad that we have to be prescribed time in nature.
Are we so busy, so plugged in we don’t automatically want this?
Maybe I’m a bit naive here…
But whenever we spend any time in a big city I quickly crave quiet times in the trees, or by the sea.
Often when we do encounter people in nature they’re on their phones.
Great if they are taking photos and noticing what’s around them.
But that’s rarely the case.
Hence the TikTok trend of ‘silent walking’.
To truly get the benefits, spening time in nature is more than just being there.
It’s about stopping.
Looking around.
Seeing.
Hearing.
Noticing.
Being mindful.
Try it… it will do wonders for your wellbeing.
And if anyone needs a prescription… I’m happy to oblige!
Ann 🙏