Reference no: EM133408872

Assignment:

Nature's calming effects

Walks in the park, hikes in the forest and strolls along the beach are known to relieve stress. Spending time in nature also improves our ability to focus, and there's even evidence that it helps us to heal physically as well.

Kevin Nute describes some simple ways to bring the movements of sunlight, wind and rain into your home.

For most of us, the recent lockdowns have led to an unprecedented shrinking of our worlds. Even under normal circumstances, however, our ability to spend time outdoors is often limited by work, family responsibilities or a simple lack of mobility. People in the United States, for example, already spent almost 90% of their time indoors long before the current crisis.

Interior plants can help, as can pets. But neither of these seems to have quite the same restorative effects as contact with wild nature, which alone has the capacity to evoke the sublime, a sense of being in the presence of something much larger than ourselves.

Wherever you happen to live, though, the Earth's largest wilderness, its atmosphere, is only the thickness of a pane of glass away. And although buildings are typically designed to keep the weather out, there are powerful reasons to welcome its movement into our homes - the most important being that it seems to have a unique capacity to calm us.

Moving light patterns reflected from a wind-disturbed water surface, of the kind we typically see under boats and bridges, for example, have been shown to have a significant calming effect on heart rate, and can also help to keep us alert.

Explain one way of bringing nature indoors. Your answer should be explained in full, including its benefits.