You don’t need to be an expert to know that walks and contact with nature are great relaxing for our stressed minds, you don’t need sophisticated devices to prove it either, just take one of these walks and realize how immediate the feeling of renewal is. . You just feel more alive and lighter in your mind. What you notice right away.
Walking in places where nature dominates, first of all, oxygenates us, if the breathing is cleaner and fluid, the brain mechanisms also work better, the body and of course the brain are nourished by this pure oxygen that is breathed. a forest, for example.
“The mountain path, like life, does not work with the legs, but with the heart. -Andrés Nadal-
Exercise itself stimulates circulation and strengthens all organs in the body. Physical activity has been shown to generate positive brain changes. It increases the production of certain beneficial hormones and inhibits the release of the so-called ‘stress hormone’.
The topic is so fascinating that several experts have begun to conduct different types of experiments to see how far the benefits of this regular practice have gone, in particular, some of them have studied the brain changes that occur when someone climbs a hill, and the results are surprising.
The National Academy of Sciences conducted a study on brain changes that occur when walking or walking in nature, interviewed people who had recently immersed themselves in nature in this way and then compared the results with those of other people who had walked through the Result was that the former referred to feeling calm, while in the second group the variety of responses was greater.
Scientists then monitored brain changes in those who practiced walking and were able to show that there was a decrease in blood flow in the prefrontal cortex of their brain after performing this activity.
This, translated in practical terms, has several meanings. The most important of these is that the main change occurred in an area related to mood, in particular, this area of the bark regulates mood swings and feelings of anxiety and sadness, all indicating that walking in nature would decrease the activation of this area. : there would be no state of irritability or sadness with which our brain had to “fight”.
Another study came to a similar conclusion. In this case, brain changes were investigated in people who extended their walks in a rural area over four days; these people have completely disconnected from technology; in the end, everyone was given an intellectual capacity test; the result was that everyone was able to get a score 50% higher than those who didn’t, especially in their creative potential.
The brain changes mentioned above are not the only ones detected among those walking on trails or natural environments, in 2004 a study was conducted among people with so-called Attention Deficit Disorder, a group of them was invited to climb a hill in nature. After that, it was found that symptoms of the disorder decreased in intensity and frequency.
Something similar happened with a group of people suffering from senile dementia, walks in green spaces and high places, which required more effort, had a significant influence on their memory, there is evidence that such activities increase the ability to concentrate and the ability to retain information In short, all intellectual functions are enriched with a simple rise of a hill.
But that’s not all. Walking also has a good influence on emotional state. An article in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology stated that a simple five-minute walk in a natural environment has powerful effects on emotions. This small amount of time is enough to observe changes in self-perception and self-esteem. Those who take such tours regularly have more self-confidence and less difficulty controlling themselves.
Better yet, virtually nothing is necessary to perform this type of activity, just proper clothes and bring water, besides providing you with beautiful brain changes, it also helps you to have better overall health, and if you go hiking with friends, it is even an easy and quick way to drastically improve your quality of life.