Modern research is showing what many have known all along, that communing with nature can improve your memory, focus, & attention. After just an hour of interacting with nature, memory & attention span improved by 20%.

1. Your Brain Needs Vitamin N (nature)
SEPTEMBER 14, 2014
Recently on a Saturday morning, I was driving to yoga class, with the windows
down, the sunroof open, & tunes blasting. It was one of those brilliantly sunny
days, in the mid-seventies with the humidity uncharacteristically low for
August, & the air was buzzing with salient energy, life, & joy. Know what kind
of day I mean?
As I whizzed along, enjoying the wind whipping my hair & sunshine warming
my left arm, propped on the window opening, I noticed that very few other
cars had their windows down. “Why the heck not?” I wondered. It made me
sad to see how disconnected people have become from their environment in
this way as they sat in their closed off cars with the stale, recirculated air
conditioning blowing on them.
OK. Some may legitimately claim allergies, but what about the rest? Have we
gotten so far removed from the Earth we live on, from the nature all around us
that we can’t even enjoy, much less exist, in it without our modern comforts
creating an artificial, &, often, unhealthy environment? Have we forgotten that
we are part of & vitally connected to the trees, the grass, & other life all
around us?

2. Fresh air produced in natural settings, around trees, & moving water, is good
for you & your brain for many reasons. Away from the smog of cities, fresh air,
being more ionized, has a different chemical makeup which is better for your
body. This purer air cleans your lungs & is filled with the oxygen your brain
loves.
Modern research is showing what many have known all along, that
communing with nature can improve your memory, focus, & attention. After
just an hour of interacting with nature, memory & attention span improved by
20%.
In his book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit
Disorder, Richard Louv, introduces the term “nature-deficit disorder” to
describe the growing gap between nature & people, specifically kids, & the
consequences. Louv refers to a dose of green, nature, as “vitamin N.”
In the article, “Health Benefits of Being Outdoors“, he writes:
A growing body of research links more time in nature — or in home, work or
hospital environments enhanced through nature-based design — with
reduction of stress & depression, faster healing time & less need for pain
medication. …Other benefits of vitamin N include enhanced use of the senses
& higher work productivity.”
When exercising outside, you breathe more deeply, bathing your brain &
muscles with even more oxygen. Your brain, an oxygen hog, uses twenty
percent of your body’s oxygen.
Other studies have shown that people who exercise outside exercised longer,
more often & reaped slight physical & psychological benefits over those who
completed similar activity indoors. Speculation is that the benefit might have
to do with sunlight & getting a healthy dose of vitamin D, which many
Americans are lacking due to indoor lifestyles. Vitamin D deficiency has been
linked to osteoporosis, cancer, high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s,
depression & more.
On the next pretty, warm day (or even chilly – invigorating!) roll down the car
windows or open the windows in your home. Go for a walk, run, or hike. Take
up gardening & get the added benefit of being able to eat your efforts. Go
camping under the stars & do some heavenly exploration. Sit on a park bench
& just breathe the fresh air.
Your brain & body will thank you.