WHY SPRING HEALS US
Sir David Attenborough has a tip to connect with the natural world. In a recent podcast interview the great naturalist suggested we all pause to spend 10 minutes a day in a local green space focusing on the wildlife all around us. “Sit down. Don’t move. Keep quiet,” the 94-year-old said. “You’ll be very surprised if something pretty interesting didn’t happen within 10 minutes.”
There is ample evidence to show the impact of such an immersion in nature on our wellbeing and mental health. A 2019 study of more than 19,000 people in England looked at the effects of spending two hours or more a week in or around open green spaces. The results showed a significant increase in the likelihood of people reporting good health or high wellbeing. A Lancet study from 2018 found exposure to nature can cut the risk of serious depressive disorders by more than five per cent.
Even for those currently languishing in Britain’s quarantine hotels there is hope. A famous 1984 study conducted by renowned Swedish professor of healthcare design, Roger Ulrich, found that a view of nature from a hospital room could improve a patient’s recovery rate.
Listening to birdsong, in particular, can transform our mental health. A recent study conducted by Dr Eleanor Ratcliffe, an environmental psychologist at the University of Surrey, created an online test with 174 British residents listening, rating, and commenting on 50 different bird sounds from the UK and Australia. According to the research some bird sounds – such as cooing wood pigeons – offered relief from mental fatigue and stress.
Rowan Hooper, author and podcast editor at New Scientist, recently examined the science behind the soothing impact of birdsong in his Escape Pod series. Focusing on the song of the thrush, in particular, scientists have discovered that if you slow it down then it carries the same mathematical formula that underpins human harmonies. “That is why it sounds so melodic,” Hooper says. “It is the same melody and harmony as we use in human music.”
For Hooper the sign that spring has truly arrived is when the bluebells begin to sprout in the garden of his London home. “All lifeforms react as the days get longer. As it gets warmer everything starts ramping up and there is this profusion of growth. The change in light and temperature is a real thing that affects us physiologically.”