Landscape architects and urban ecology researchers have always been trying to bring people more to the outdoors, make the most of urban parks and gardens, calling the public attention to issues such as nature deficit disorder, mental health consequences from spending our time mostly indoors, looking at phones or monitors…
Today, the situation is calling for staying at home out of social responsibility or simply following the new regulations. Those who haven’t got a garden, those who live in dense cities are being completely disconnected from nature. Many countries, such as Poland for example, have banned access to any forests, parks and gardens for all citizens in the cities or in the countryside.
There is a lot of shaming going on for those who leave homes to get a walk outside. It is in fact socially irresponsible to go out now and risk spreading the virus to others.
As this is not the post to tell people what they should or shouldn’t do. It is rather to remind ourselves of the psychological consequences of social distancing, self-isolation and disconnection with nature that we all are facing now.
Many of us will feel lonely, bored and stuck; our motivation to work, productivity and ability to concentrate on tasks may decrease. We may experience restlessness and insomnia, depression, anxiety and high irritability. All these are typical for “cabin fever syndrome”, and fit very well to what we’re facing today. Adding the worry and uncertainty about the future on the top of this doesn’t make it better…
Getting out from home, and even unconscious contact with nature (being under the sky, feeling the slight breeze of wind, seeing flowers or trees) can have a powerful positive effect on us today. Nature can help us keep sane and grounded. If you cannot go outside, spend time on the balcony, gaze outside the window, observe the moving clouds, or leaves dancing with the wind. Even observing the daylight moving along the daily cycle gives some connection to the environment outside.
Conscious practice of the connection with nature can help you keep mental health hygiene in these difficult times.
Stay healthy and sane everyone!
President and Founder of NeuroLandscape. Ph.D. in Landscape Architecture and Urban Ecology, in her research she explores the relationship between the different features of the natural and built environment’s influence on human health and well-being. She has successfully incorporated neuroscience tools to investigate the changes in brainwave oscillation in people exposed to different types of scenery. She has introduced and operationalized the term contemplative landscape and proposed a quantitative assessment scale – a Contemplative Landscapes Model (CLM) – to identify most beneficial landscapes for mental health in terms of passive exposure. She is an author of “Neuroscience for Designing Green Spaces: Contemplative Landscapes”, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Urban Design and Mental Health. She is continuing her research on therapeutic landscapes under two ongoing Horizon Europe projects: GreenME and GreenInCities.