Your Second Nature

For a calmer life,keep aside some green time for yourself

For a calmer life,keep aside some green time for yourself
You go on no-carb diets,sweat it out on the treadmill and crunch on nothing but salads,all to keep yourself fit. But how connected are you to nature? How many times a week do you stand and stare at the greens? Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigns Landscape and Human Health Laboratory,US say it matters if you do. Like all animals,humans were evolved to thrive in natural surroundings,says Frances Ming Kuo,the labs director,and a study done by the lab found that being connected to nature helps our mental health.

You may wonder,why not read a book or watch TV in order to de-stress. Check the comparison that Dr Rakhi Anand,clinical psychologist with Indraprastha Apollo Hospital,New Delhi,offers. Being exposed to naturewalking on the grass or near the sea,or watching birdsdisconnects one from all social/human contact. That cannot be offered by a non-green activity because all our problems have to do with human relations and even our recreational activities involve humanstalking to,watching or even reading about other people. Man is indeed a social animal but a little bit of disconnect from his worldly/social life can do wonders to de-stress him, she says.

Dr Anand says that her patients from greener regions such as Himachal Pradesh are better equipped to cope with stress than those living in Delhi. They are more at ease with themselves,have fewer mood swings and their biorhythms like sleep pattern and appetite are normala rarity in a modern city, she says.

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People who live in a house close to a park or an apartment with a view of a park are more likely to have a better life. Kuos lab found that residents of flats exposed to green spaces reported fewer aggressive conflicts than those who had no view of greenery. Dr Anand suggests that nature in any formas some of us relate better to other aspects such as water or animalscan boost our mental energies. Having a fish aquarium in offices or homes has been identified as being therapeutic in many researches and we can perhaps begin with that, she says.

Even if you are relatively stress-free,living closer to green spaces can benefit your physical well-being. In a study published last November in The Lancet,researchers from the University of Glasgow,UK,examined mortality records of 3,66,348 people between 2001 and 2005. They found that the disparity between the rich and the poor across different health indicators in the greenest areas was half of that observed in the least green areas.

Those living in greener areas were reported to have lower blood pressures,lower stress levels and faster post-surgery recovery. Dr Monica Mahajan,a senior internal medicine consultant with Max Healthcare,New Delhi,explains,Blood pressure and stress are rooted in lifestyle. People staying close to green areas are motivated to wake up early for a morning walk or exercise. All these go a long way in ensuring normal blood pressure and a positive attitude. But people living in congested,concrete areas arent motivated to go for walks which is actually a good decision because the air in their neighbourhoods is so filled with particulate matter that staying outdoors for long could be unhealthy. For those whove just had a surgery,living near green spaces promotes mobility which improves blood circulation and thus expedites healing,she explains.

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine reported in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that children living in green neighbourhoods had a lower risk of obesity. The Tokyo Medical and Dental University also did a study that showed that living in walkable green spaces positively influenced the longevity of urban senior citizens. These studies show that urban planning could play a role in our health, says Dr Mahajan.
Policymakers in the West are taking note. Chicago recently undertook a $10 million tree-planting drive. Perhaps,we should take a leaf out of that book.