Do you brood? Do you have customers who brood? Brooding is defined by scientists as morbid rumination, or a mental state familiar to most of us even though it might sound complicated. Think not being able to stop noodling over ways in which things are wrong with yourself or your company or your life.
This broken-record fretting is not healthy. In fact, it can be a precursor to depression. The WHO estimates that depression and depression-related illness will become the greatest sources of ill health by 2020. This is, in part, because coping mechanisms for depression, such as smoking, overeating and high alcohol consumption, can have their own serious consequences.
Unfortunately, brooding is pretty common, especially among city dwellers.
The solution: a little quiet time outside, says a study published in “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”
The study gathered healthy, adult city dwellers and had half walk for 90 minutes through a leafy, quiet, park-like area, while the other half walked next to a loud, hectic, multi-lane highway. Those who strolled along tree-lined paths showed meaningful improvements in their mental health, dwelling much less on the negative aspects of their lives. Their brains also became quieter.
The study results strongly suggest that getting out into natural environments could be an easy and almost immediate way to improve moods.
Nature as a prescription for mental wellness is a leading global consumer trend, and it’s not going away anytime soon.
Another new study of neuroconservation from Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, an ecologist and research associate at the California Academy of Sciences, says being in nature and around water shifts our brain toward hope and compassion and away from stress and anger.
Feeling like your brooding? Maybe you need a nature break away from the daily grind of work. If your customers are feeling stressed, they could likely use backyard makeovers to create quiet, peaceful places that can calm their nerves.
Studies continue to prove that there’s little downside to treating yourself to a little green time.
