Grounded in science and created by experts, our MOVEMENT FOR MIND programme is designed to help people feel better by combining fundamental elements from our past that have been scientifically proven to benefit our mental wellbeing today. We want to help people feel better by tapping into those essential things that make us feel human – moving, being outside, mindfulness and being part of a group.

And with each passing day, it is becoming more clear how essential each one of these elements are. And yet we know that for some people, it has become more difficult to include these elements in their daily lives. So we wanted to share easy changes you can make while at home.

Today, we’d like to focus on the role nature plays in helping people take care of their mental wellbeing. And so we reached out to one of our experts, Gary Evans, director and founder of The Forest Bathing Institute who has pioneered Forest Bathing+ alongside his wife Olga. Developed in the 1980s in Japan, Forest Bathing, known as shinrin-yoku in Japanese, is a form of nature therapy. A practice of spending quality time in nature, connecting with it through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch for health and wellbeing purposes. Forest Bathing can significantly improve your wellbeing according to recent research from the University of Derby, which showed a statistically significant improvement across 12 key wellbeing areas.

We asked Gary how we could benefit from introducing a little bit of green, one way or another, throughout the day during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gary mentions various scientific studies that have proven the positive impact nature has on the mind but particularly highlights an article he considers the “central pillar of how nature can help mental wellbeing”. 

Research shows that spending time in nature has a positive impact on our mental wellbeing and happiness. Attention Restoration Theory (ART), first introduced in 1995 by Kaplan, shows that spending time outdoors will allow the brain to recover from overuse and fatigue while also increasing attention. In a research report, The Cognitive Benefits of Interacting With Nature by Marc G. Berman, John Jonides and Stephen Kaplan, an analysis was made by comparing two kinds of environments; natural environments versus urban environments. Both experiments conducted in this study showed that walking in nature or even viewing scenes of nature could improve directed-attention abilities like overcoming mental fatigue and improving our ability to focus and direct our attention effectively.

Similarly, the study Views to Nature: Effects on Attention conducted by Carolyn M.Tennessen and Bernadine Cimprich, explored whether university dormitory residents with more natural views from their windows would see an improvement in their directed-attention abilities compared to those with less natural views. The study showed that natural views were in fact associated with better performance.

With all this being said, how do you realistically include nature in your daily routine while stuck indoors during this time? The good news is, it’s not as difficult as you’d imagine.

Here are a few tips:

For more daily tips, follow The Forest Bathing Institute on Facebook or Instagram for inspiration and look out for our next blog post.

While we know that the benefits of these tips are not the same as taking part in the full ASICS MOVEMENT FOR MIND programme, these few suggestions could still have a positive impact on your mental wellbeing. This is our way of bringing a little bit of MOVEMENT FOR MIND to you.