Lesson 8 of 10 · 3 min · Mind
Nature walks and rumination: a walk among trees
Ninety minutes in green space quieted the brain region tied to brooding. Ninety minutes by a busy road did not.
Rumination is the loop: the same worry turned over and over, without getting anywhere. It goes hand in hand with low mood and anxiety.
In 2015, Gregory Bratman at Stanford sent 38 city dwellers on a 90 minute walk. Half walked through grassland with scattered oak trees near campus, the other half along a loud road with heavy traffic.
After the nature walk, people reported less brooding, and scans showed less activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, a region that is busier when people ruminate. After the city walk, neither changed.
You do not need a forest. A park, a river path or a street with trees will do. Leave the phone in your pocket for part of it and let your eyes wander instead of your thoughts.
Quick question
After a 90 minute walk, which group brooded less?
- The ones who walked by the busy road
- The ones who walked through green space
- Both the same
Show the answer
The ones who walked through green space
Only the nature walkers reported less rumination and showed lower activity in the brain region linked to it.
Keep this one
When your mind loops, walk among trees.
Where this comes from
Bratman, Hamilton, Hahn, Daily and Gross 2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112 (Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation).