Sea, lake, mountain, hill: we are used to looking at it nature as a product equal to many others, a commodity to be bought according to one’s tastes in order to have a moment of pure enjoyment as an end in itself. And then, once the experience is over, go back to where we were before. Reversing this disposable trend of the physical universe is Samantha Waltona biophilia scholar from Bristol who analyzes the relationship between nature and mental health, who in her latest book Places for healing. The healing power of nature (Ponte alle Grazie) says something else: every natural place, because of its physical characteristics and the cultural meanings attached to it, produces a deep and decisive influence on each of us. AND a cure for soul and bodyEnough choose the most effective environmental framework for the mood of the moment.
Why is contact with nature necessary?
We all experience it and many scientific theories prove it: in the green blood pressure decreases, heart rate, stress hormones and we feel calmer and more focused. Furthermore, as biologist Edward Osborne Wilson says, humanity’s love of nature (biophilia) is innate, the result of millennia of evolution: our instincts, our constitution and our senses are perfectly adapted to distinguish natural threats and to find safety. shelter and nourishment in the environments in which life has developed. But more than that, nature is the foundation of our imaginations, it permeates the languages we speak. it is the key to our aesthetic, intellectual and even spiritual satisfaction. Our biophilia is the love of life.
What is its main effect?
Nature “corrects” the many distortions of modern life, which consists of frenzy and competitiveness. While natural ecosystems, in their complex interconnection between plant and animal beings, teach us that each element has a precise, useful and necessary function for the existence of this structure. In short, observe the mechanisms of nature it slows down our individual struggle and broadens the sense of belonging to the rest of the world. This way we understand that we have a certain weight, which cancels out the feeling of helplessness and frustration.
So it’s not just an anti-stress…
Nature can be a healer for the wounds of the soul, because it has cathartic potential: in fact, it is a fundamental way of accepting reality, also consists of melancholy, pain, difficulties, failures. Therefore, you are not going to immerse yourself in a natural landscape to avoid problems, but rather to accept them and learn to live with them with the help of nature itself, which brings peace, liberation and tranquility. It puts us in the best conditions to reprocess everyday stress.
How is the healing power harnessed?
Nature, in all its manifestations, offers us surprises that can be transformed into mental resources: occurs by observing the leaves falling from the tree in front of the house as well as an ocean expanse, on the other side of the world. This means that healing relationships with nature are personal and exclusive, and you avoid classifications, even though there are effects that most of us experience in certain places. But there is no natural place more healing than another!
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