Outdoor Innovations for Mental Wellness and Eco therapy.
With so much screen time in an age of urban living, many people are rediscovering the healing power of nature. Nature therapy or Eco therapy is a growing field that ideally aims to prove how spending time outside can be beneficial to your mental health. Eco therapy is helping people reconnect with the environment and its natural processes in an innovative way with a variety of tools and approaches.
Eco therapy and outdoor innovations are changing mental health care.
1. What is Eco therapy?
Eco therapy is an outdoor activity and connection with nature based therapy for mental health. Eco therapy includes things that don’t seem like therapy, such as gardening, hiking, forest bathing, or just sitting in a park. Science back’s up nature’s calming, outside of your home lowers cortisol levels, increases the amount of blood pressure in your system, and makes you generally happier.
2. A Global Attraction of a Japanese Tradition
Although shining you (‘forest bathing’), or providing the opportunity for free contact with forests, was first thought of in Japan, it is now a practice being assessed around the world. It’s like walking slowly in a forest and uses your senses, listening to birds, texture of tree bark, the earthy smelling dirt of the woods. Forest bathing can boost immune function and mental clarity, research shows. Today numerous cities are offering guided forest therapy walks where this practice becomes available also for urban dwellers.
3. Gardening as Therapy
Long known to be therapeutic, gardening. Growing plants can give you an opportunity for their physical exercise but also brings purpose with it. Now though, therapeutic horticulture programs are being included in hospitals, community centers and even prisons to assist patients as they come to terms with stress and trauma. Hydroponics and vertical gardens have modernized gardening with innovations and now allow urban residents without a backyard to participate.
4. Nature + challenge.
Adventure therapy provides activities with extra dynamics, such as rock climbing, kayaking or camping, together with counseling, for those who want more. These experiences actually cultivate resilience and teamwork, as well as getting participants to use their ‘fears’ in a safe, supportive environment. Individuals fighting with PTSD or substance abuse are quite sensitive to the benefits of adventure therapy which provides both mental and physical benefits.
5. Technology Meets Nature
In general, Eco therapy is often a reconnection with technology out of the way, but some innovations now use tech to augment outdoor experiences. Hiking hither and thither is aided by apps like All Trails, or by Nature Passport, which encourage people to find hiking trails or walk with them through mindfulness exercises in the wild. Another innovation is the digital detox retreats, bringing together a technology free environment with outdoor activities to take away and reconnect with this self.
6. A New Approach to Healthcare
Doctors in some countries are now putting ‘green time’ into their patients’ treatment plans. These initiatives are sometimes referred to as “green prescriptions” and tell people they should spend time outdoors to help them manage conditions like anxiety and depression. Thus, for instance, the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK gets behind social prescribing programmers that get people to sign up for local outdoor activities, like nature walks or conservation projects.
7. Community Gardens as part of Urban Green Spaces
Community gardens and urban parks about a role playing a big role in bringing nature to city dwellers. Gardening, exercising or even relaxation in a natural environment are wonderful uses for these. When squeezed into concrete jungles, it’s proving easier than ever to get to green space through such projects as rooftop gardens and ‘pocket parks’ in the most densely populated of cities.
Conclusion
Eco therapy and outdoor innovations bring us back home to remember just how powerfully they might impact the human psyche. It’s shown that whether it’s a sweet walk in the forest, a tough climb or tending a little flower garden, we all benefit greatly from spending time with nature, there’s so much that is good for us. Taking that step outside might be the simplest — and the most effective — way to nurture your mind and soul as we work through the madness of modern life.
