Experts have confirmed in recent years that spending more time in green spaces improves mood and reduces levels of depression and anxiety.
Now, a new body of research reveals that spending time outdoors and in nature helps us combat anxiety and stress by slowing down our perception of time.
A study by psychologist Ricardo Correa of the University of Turku in Finland tested how people perceive time in urban and natural areas, finding that people who spent time in green spaces spent more time there than in an urban area.
In a research paper titled “Time Grows on Trees,” Maria Davydenko of Carleton University in Canada found that walking in a park “makes time seem slower than in urban settings,” in addition to improving mood and reducing stress.
“When one is trying to make the most of one’s time, spending it in an enjoyable activity in nature may not only improve psychological health in several ways, but may also provide a sense that one has spent more time enjoying the activity than one really thinks,” the research team wrote in the journal Environmental Psychology.
“Previous research shows that spending time in nature helps shift our focus from the immediate moment to our future needs,” said Ruth Ogden, professor of time psychology at Liverpool John Moores University, who wrote with researcher Jessica Thompson on The Conversation. “So, rather than focusing on the pressures of our time, nature helps us see the bigger picture. This can help us prioritise our actions so that we can achieve our long-term goals.”