Whether you’re taking in the sunrise over the Grand Canyon, trail-running through your local forest preserve, or strolling through a park on your way to work, it’s easy to lose yourself in the beauty of nature. Breathing in fresh air, gazing at trees swaying in the breeze, listening to chirping birds…it’s a restorative, transcendent experience that can leave you feeling happier and lighter in just minutes.
It turns out that exposure to nature alters our brain chemistry in surprisingly powerful ways, says Marc Berman, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Chicago and the author of the new book Nature and the Mind. Berman pioneered the field of environmental neuroscience, which studies how our surroundings affect our brain and behavior. His work underscores the importance of protecting our natural world and creating more green space in urban environments. We asked him about the tangible ways spending time in nature can help us focus better, heal faster, and more.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Nature can restore your attention span and sharpen your focus.
“Humans have two main types of attention. One is called directed attention, where you are consciously deciding what you’re paying attention to. In school, for example, you’re deciding to pay attention to the teacher, even if there are more interesting things going on in the classroom. That attention is depletable; you can only direct it for so long before you become mentally fatigued.
“The other type of attention is involuntary attention, which is when your focus is automatically captured by interesting stimulation in the environment. A loud noise from an animal captures our attention without our control. This attention is less susceptible to fatigue or depletion. You don’t often hear people say, ‘I’m too tired to look at that beautiful waterfall.’ It’s just too interesting.”
“If we can find natural environments that don’t place a lot of demand on directed attention and simultaneously create soft fascination [a state in which your involuntary attention is engaged but your mind can still wander], we can replenish our precious directed attention. Researchers have found that having views of nature out the window improves school performance in kids, so this isn’t just hypothetical.”
Green space might speed healing.
“In the 1980s, the researcher Roger Ulrich looked at a single hospital corridor in Philadelphia, where some of the rooms had views of trees or grass and others had views of a brick wall. He recorded peoples’ recovery from gallbladder surgery. The patients with nature views recovered a day earlier and used less pain medication compared to the patients that had the views of the brick walls. Patients are randomly assigned to these rooms, so it’s not the case of wealthier, younger, or healthier patients having the nature views. It’s probably not due to air quality. It likely just has to do with the aesthetic of nature—it was good for the brain, and that was good for the body.
“There was also a study done on women recovering from breast cancer, including chemotherapy and radiation. Half the women did two hours of nature activities a week for 12 weeks—gardening, walking in nature, or just sitting in a park. The other group did two hours of leisure activities a week—reading, crossword puzzles, etc. The women in the nature group had better attention, were more likely to do new projects, and had improved relationships with their partners. These brief interactions with nature were really good for this population of women.”
Trees can ease depression and grief.
“Interactions with nature can be really helpful for people with depression [in addition to other treatment]. In Europe, they’ve looked at tree biodiversity in different neighborhoods and, controlling for age, education, and income, found that there’s less antidepressant use in neighborhoods that have more tree diversity. And in the U.K. and Canada, doctors are now prescribing walks in nature as a supplemental therapy for depression.
“Both grieving and depression involve ruminative processes that can take up a lot of attention. We think that being in nature can help people be more reflective in their thoughts while also helping to improve their attention. It can give you the cognitive resources to deal with your grief and depression. Also, being in beautiful nature can give people a sense of awe. That might make us see that we’re a part of something larger. It puts things in perspective.”
You don’t even have to like it.
“People think that being in nature is healthy because it feels good, but we found that you don’t have to enjoy nature to get the benefit. In our original studies, we gave people difficult memory and attention tasks and had them walk in nature. Some walked in June when it was 80 degrees and some walked in January when it was 25 degrees. Whether they reported enjoying the walk or not, people showed the same memory and attention benefits. Basically, this isn’t working because we’re putting people into good moods—there’s something more fundamental going on.”
Everything counts—from looking at a fake plant to forest bathing.
“There’s a sort of hierarchy. Going out in nature has the strongest benefits, but just looking at real nature is the next best. And then it might be having plants in your space, maybe even fake plants. Then, looking at nature pictures or listening to nature sounds. All of those produce benefits, but going out into nature has the strongest effect. Plants in your space will give microdoses of attention restoration throughout the day. If there isn’t any real nature near you, go out and listen to some nature sounds on a bench. But when you’re feeling really mentally fatigued, try to take a quick walk in a nearby park or on a tree-lined street. It’s remarkable how much better you’ll feel.”
Cassie Hurwitz (she/her) is an associate editor at Oprah Daily, where she covers everything from culture to entertainment to lifestyle. She can typically be found in the middle of multiple books and TV shows all at once. Previously, Cassie worked at Parents, Rachael Ray In Season, and Reveal. Her love language is pizza (New York slices, Chicago deep dish, and otherwise).