Connect With Nature for Mental Well-being By Dr. Anjum Nazir Qureshi

Staying close to nature has several benefits. Although we think about progress in life through urbanization, technology, and going digital, our health is the priority. Taking our time out of digital devices to spend time with nature and connect with the natural environment makes us feel love from the inside. It improves our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

A quote by Frank Lloyd Wright explains the human-nature connection: “Study nature, love nature, live close to nature. It will never fail you.” Imagine how you feel when a cool breeze or the warmth of the sun touches you. Electronic devices, social media, and busy lifestyles have disconnected us from nature. Looking at the increasing cases of anxiety, stress, and mental issues, globally, it is crucial to develop that reconnection with nature. Human beings have been genetically conditioned to remain connected with nature. Once they lose this connection, they experience loneliness and unhappiness.

On the other hand, connecting with the natural environment helps us explore the purpose of our existence on this earth and imagine what happiness would be like. Societal disruptions, increasing immorality, and a gap in ethics and values are the effects of breaches caused by technology. We have come closer to technology but have gone away from nature and human beings. Many researchers have proved that connecting with nature improves your mental health. It reduces stress, depression, and anxiety and promotes happiness and well-being. It develops positive emotions like joy and calmness. It improves your concentration, imagination, and creativity.

Connecting with nature is very easy. Go for a walk in a forest, or a river or lake. Feel its beauty and the fresh air. If you are a fitness freak, try to spend your exercise routine in a park, garden, beach, or riverside. Listen to the sweet birdsongs, see the butterflies, feel the fragrance of flowers around you, and look at the clouds. You can connect with nature being indoors. Spend time watering the indoor plants, feel their leaves, monitor their growth, and feel the smell of the soil. You can write a poem or an article on how you felt seeing nature and being with it. If you love pets and animals, spend time with them. All these methods of connecting with nature are beneficial for mental health. It improves your mood, keeps you more relaxed, helps you to meet and know more people, and improves confidence and self-esteem.

The calmness of nature is contagious. It keeps your mind calm and releases stress. Take time to be with nature, calm your busy brain, and enhance your mood and mental well-being.

 

Dr. Anjum Nazir Qureshi,

Assistant Professor,

Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering Research & Technology,

Chandrapur, India.

Using AI to Support Young People in Mental Health