We’ve all probably heard to some degree that nature and time in nature are good for us. However, we may not realize just how good nature truly is for our psyche and physical state of being. Every time you are in nature you benefit in a multitude of wellness areas. Regularly spent time in nature has profound benefits for every part of our physical, mental, emotional, social, and psychological well-being. In this article, I will share with you 62 reasons to inspire and motivate you to make time spent in nature a priority in your life for personal healing and wellbeing.

How you experience each of the below-mentioned benefits will depend on a variety of factors. Some of these benefits will be easily noticeable, or even profound and create drastic shifts in your life. Others will be subtle and often go unnoticed. All of them are experiential, but not every person may be open to receiving or experiencing them. Some have also been studied scientifically and shared via empirical evidence, or written about in entire books. Nature always offers each of us vast potential, but it is up to us to allow it to be made manifest.

  1. Nature helps us align the mind, body, and spirit.
  2. Nature offers a connection to spirit.
  3. Nature offers a connection to the soul.
  4. Nature fosters reverence for all life.
  5. Nature strengthens our energetic coherence.
  6. Nature uplifts our spirits and improves our mood.
  7. Nature fosters our sense of wonder and awe.
  8. Nature enhances sleep quality and quantity.
  9. Nature helps to enhance our self-confidence.
  10. Nature helps to improve our self-discipline.
  11. Nature enhances creativity. 11.Nature fosters inner peace.
  12. Nature calms the mind.
  13. Nature deepens our sense of community and belonging.
  14. Nature cultivates a natural sense of appreciation.
  15. Nature inspires gratitude.
  16. Nature gives us a sense of being connected to a larger whole.
  17. Nature improves overall physical health.
  18. Nature reduces feelings of depression.
  19. Nature improves our levels of happiness.
  20. Nature enhances energy and vitality.
  21. Nature decreases feelings of stress.
  22. Nature stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and triggers the relaxation response.
  23. Nature reduces pain and inflammation, especially when contact with Earth is direct.
  24. Nature reduces stress hormone circulation.
  25. Nature lowers and normalizes blood pressure.
  26. Nature decreases anger and aggression.
  27. Nature helps us release worry and anxiety.
  28. Nature improves overall mental health.
  29. Nature offers enhanced healing and recovery benefits.
  30. Nature is mentally and emotionally restorative.
  31. Nature improves our focus and concentration.
  32. Nature reduces hyperactive behavior.
  33. Nature improves our sense of compassion.
  34. Nature strengthens our sense of meaning and purpose.
  35. Nature helps us to understand the bigger picture of life.
  36. Nature fosters selflessness and altruism.
  37. Nature increases our sense of sustainability.
  38. Nature promotes an understanding of the interconnectivity of all life.
  39. Nature strengthens our connection between personal actions and consequences.
  40. Nature helps us connect with our basic values.
  41. Nature helps us to establish our priorities.
  42. Nature offers natural and health-promoting sounds.
  43. Nature provides us with optimal air quality.
  44. Nature offers positively stimulating visual landscapes.
  45. Nature fosters a sense of natural joy.
  46. Nature offers lots of opportunities for natural physical activity.
  47. Nature improves our sense of living in balance.
  48. Nature reduces feelings of distress and agitation.
  49. Nature helps us live connected to nature’s rhythms.
  50. Nature enhances our sense of humility.
  51. Nature promotes states of meditation and stillness.
  52. Nature offers us natural silence.
  53. Nature reduces information overload.
  54. Nature helps us to overcome grief and trauma.
  55. Nature reduces selfishness.
  56. Nature offers us guidance for our life.
  57. Nature optimizes brain function.
  58. Nature helps us to open our hearts.
  59. Nature helps us to open our minds.
  60. Nature helps to make us kinder and more caring.
  61. Nature promotes optimal mind, body, and spirit wellbeing.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.”

William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

Natural Integrations

Whether you choose to live amidst natural surroundings, vacation in natural areas, visit a local park, or personal backyard, every connection with nature counts. Of course, the more we take in natural surroundings, the more we benefit. Many of the benefits above compound each other, where one has a natural progression of leading to another. The power for deep personal healing, evolution, and transformation lies with us.

Allow nature to be your refuge; your teacher; your friend; your therapist. Befriend her, get to know her, fall in love with her—all over again. We fear and destroy that which we do not understand. We cherish and appreciate that which we love. These two sides offer us an understanding of the two main relationships people on our planet have with nature. As we integrate ourselves with nature—our fundamental HOME—we become more WHOLE. We become more effective human beings. We become more responsible stewards of the Earth. We positively enrich the collective consciousness. We benefit; our Earth benefits. At a time in the history of humanity where so much chaos and negativity seem to blanket the planet, there is a solution for us to wake-up, come together, and come HOME. The cohesive energies of nature effortlessly lead the way.

Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.

Albert Einstein

Whether it is spring, summer, autumn or winter, make a conscious connection with nature daily. Nature should not have to be scheduled into our lives, it should be a natural part of our lives. But we all have to start somewhere, so start wherever you can to increase the amount of time you spend in nature. Whenever you have the opportunity to choose your task, activity, or experience, choose nature. Our modern, man-made world is noisy, constantly competing for our attention, dispersing our focus, and offering constant distractions. It lures us in with false promises and illusions of some future-derived happiness. But it is not in the shopping experience, Internet or TV experience, or gossiping experience that you will find authentic joy and inner peace. It is in nature. True happiness cannot be purchased, it can only be created by you, from within you, and nature offers us the perfect landscape to engage in for this creation.

Whatever healing, growth, or guidance you seek, know that nature is always there for you. She is ready to listen, ready to speak, ready to heal, and love you. Allow yourself to be immersed in her warm embrace, her acceptance of you, and her unconditional love for you.

  1. Nature Inspired Self-Love Reflections — ebook by Evita Ochel

  2. Your Brain On Nature: The Science of Nature’s Influence on Your Health, Happiness, and Vitality — book by Eva M. Selhub

  3. Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind — book by Linda Buzzell and Craig Chalquist

  4. The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age — book by Richard Louv

  5. Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind — book by Theodore Roszak et al.

  6. The Voice of the Earth: An Exploration of Ecopsychology — book by Theodore Roszak

  7. Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World — book by Bill Plotkin

  8. Ecopsychology: Science, Totems, and the Technological Species — book by Peter H. Kahn Jr. et al.

  9. The Earth Has a Soul: C.G. Jung on Nature, Technology & Modern Life — book by C. G. Jung

  10. The Lost Language of Plants: The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines for Life on Earth — book by y Stephen Harrod Buhner