The gym life can be so addictive it’s hard to remember that nature provides a wealth of unique health benefits. Recently, researchers form Stanford University examined the positive physiological aspects of exercising in a natural setting. They took two groups of people and had half of them walk in a lush, green setting and the other half walk in an urban environment.
The walkers who were closer to nature reported greater decreases in worry, anxiety, and negative thought than the ones who traversed the concrete jungle. In fact, brain scans of the subjects showed the nature walkers experienced less neural activity in the area most associated with mental illness. Yes, the trees seemed to actually affect their brains. Next time you feel the stress of life getting to you, skip the treadmill and hit the trail.
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