What is ecotherapy

Imagine the situation. You go to your family doctor, you complain about this and that. The doctor, after listening carefully, writes a prescription. In the hope of a cure for your ailment, you leave the office and go straight to the pharmacy. The pharmacist reads the prescription and declares: “That’s not for us. It’s for the park – the outdoors!” After carefully studying the writing, you realize that your salvation is not in the pills – you are prescribed to be in nature for at least two hours a day.

This is the kind of prescription-ticket to visit national parks that Canadian doctors have been allowed to write since the beginning of this year. What is so magical that happens to us in nature?

Those who study this problem have found that when a person admires a landscape, his eyes transmit information to the brain that triggers the production of the happiness hormone. Endorphins are added to the brain, which help our brain, or more precisely, its neurons.

It is known that if a neuron cell does not produce enough neurotransmitters, our brain activity, which is responsible for transmitting information, decreases. The brain doesn’t care if we love nature or not – it needs green space.

In 1984, biologist Edward Osborne Wilson described the reasons for nature’s positive influence on the human mental state in his book Biophilia. He suggested that humans have an innate urge to seek connections with plants and animals. An article published in the journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica summarized data from 20 studies comparing urban and rural residents. Affective disorders were found to be 40% more common in urban areas. Anxiety neuroses are also more characteristic of city dwellers.

But why do green landscapes have such an impact on our health?

Stanford Environment Institute researcher Gretchen Daly surveyed 38 people. On the university campus, participants’ brains were scanned by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants also filled out questionnaires in which they described the presence of intrusive thoughts, in particular, about negative attitudes toward themselves and their actions.

Then the 19 participants went on a 90-minute walk along a traffic-clogged main street. The rest went for a walk among the hills, around the institute. Routes were chosen specifically to appreciate the practical benefits of a short vacation available to absolutely everyone and every day. Upon their return, participants again filled out questionnaires. Those who walked in nature had much better results. And after walking around the city, the sensations of the subjects did not change, and in some cases even worsened.

The work of the brain after communicating with nature has also changed. The part of the brain responsible for feelings of sadness and introspection showed less activity. This was not the effect of people walking along the track.

In addition, walking exercises our legs and body. It is quite clear that walking is useful not only for those who want to lose weight, but also to ensure immunity, reduces the likelihood of illness from viruses. Immunity from the flu is strengthened by walking in coniferous forests, especially in children. That is why sanatoriums are built in coniferous or pine forests.

Today there are new treatments for depression. But the most important one is ecotherapy. It produces incredible results. One’s condition improves considerably when one hears the sound of the wind, the murmuring of the brook, the rustling of the grass, the singing of birds, looks at a waterfall or birds soaring in the sky. And how children love to watch the animals! In many parks, especially for them created corners with little animals, which can be petted and fed.

After the walk, people may have interesting thoughts and even ideas. I.e. creative abilities are developed. It is known that many writers, poets, and artists spent most of their day in nature. So move away from the computer and go for a walk in the park. The whole family. It is both therapeutic and unifying.

But don’t walk the streets or the stores! Walking in the park has a very different effect on a person than walking in the city. The city makes a person depressed and irritable, and nature, on the contrary, takes away this depression and irritability.

Today, cities are encroaching on nature, reclaiming more and more territory. So how do you get this life-saving medicine back to a person?

It’s very simple! Some countries are already planning cities with access to natural islands in mind, paying attention to the distance from future schools to parks: children should not spend a lot of time traveling from the place of study to a green area. Natural Beams” are being designed, which will be built into the urban space in the form of parks and squares.

There are even experts who calculate how many trees should grow on one street to improve the psychological state of passersby. We have to fight for every square centimeter of greenery if we don’t want to go crazy in our densely built-up neighborhoods. Especially since it’s easy to destroy a corner of nature, but it’s much harder to bring it back into an urban environment.

Let’s not forget this. Let’s take care of our nature, because this is the bosom from which we all came!