Updated on December 5, 2024.
Improving your health may be as easy as a walk in the park.
Researchers across the globe have been looking closely at how being surrounded by plants, trees, and flowers can help humans thrive. Interest in this topic is more relevant than ever as increasing urbanization has made it harder for many people to take advantage of nature’s healing powers. More than 55 percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas, in fact, and that number is expected to approach 68 percent by 2050.
It’s in this context that trends such as “forest bathing”—a Japanese practice of walking meditatively in the woods, also known as “forest therapy”—have found enthusiastic followers around the world.
“Taking walks outside in nature is good for both your physical and mental health,” says Jeff Sarata, DO, an emergency medicine specialist at Fairview Park Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Sarata points out that getting your muscles moving in a green setting can positively affect many parts of your body, from your heart to your lungs to your state of mind.
“When you’re walking or hiking in a natural setting like a forest, park, or even a greenhouse,” he explains, “you’re not only getting physical exercise, which provides the number one benefit. You’re also surrounded by the organisms that produce the oxygen your body needs. No one ever feels worse after walking in nature.”
Here are several ways your body can feel better with a simple trek through the woods:
It relaxes you deeply
“When you go for a walk in nature, rather than on a city street, you don’t have cars honking and people talking on their cell phones around you,” says Sarata. In fact, a 2024 review published in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health found evidence to suggest that leaving the tech world behind to walk and breathe in a natural environment stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which puts you in a state of relaxation. Forest bathing has also been shown to lower levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol.
It can improve your cardiovascular health
That slower pace and sense of peacefulness achieved by communing with nature can help slow down your heart rate and ease high blood pressure. For example, one 2022 review published in Reviews on Environmental Health looked at the effects of forests on older adults. Researchers found that walking in a forest was linked to lower blood pressure and heart rate, and was tied to improvements in the overall function of the cardiovascular system.
Exposure to green space—which can include undeveloped landscapes as well as urban parks—is also associated with decreased risks of other diseases. In a 2022 review in Environmental Pollution, researchers found that increasing green space in a neighborhood by a small amount may be linked to slightly lower chances of developing heart disease, having strokes, dying from a stroke, or dying from heart disease.
Your risks of developing type 2 diabetes and obesity are also lowered when there are green spaces in your neighborhood, according to a 2021 review published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
It may boost your immune system
A 2022 systematic review, aslo published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, looked at the limited research so far on how forest therapy might boost your immune system. Two of the four studies that researchers examined showed some positive changes in participants’ immune systems after daily three-hour walks in a forest, compared with similar walks in a city.
Time spent may make a difference. One of the other two studies found no evidence that walking through or sitting in a forest for a period of 15 minutes helped immune function. Much more research is needed to help determine just how and whether your immune system is helped out by forest exposure.
It could help children with attention issues
Parents of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may find a degree of non-pharmaceutical relief right outside their front door. Some small-scale past research has pointed to exposure to a natural environment having positive effects on kids with ADHD, including a greater ability to focus and to relax, and lowered symptoms of the disorder.
And it doesn’t just help those with diagnoses. A small 2022 study, again in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, found that kids in general (not just those with ADHD) who had a lesson in a garden showed an enhanced ability to focus and do math. It also showed improvements in their mood.
Experts theorize that spending time in nature engages the mind effortlessly and easily, providing children with a break from having to deliberately focus their attention, therefore freeing up their energy to focus again when needed.
Indoor greenery helps, too
Several studies have found that when natural items—like flowers, green plants, and natural materials such as wood—are brought into indoor spaces, they can have a beneficial effect on the nervous system and on the brain. In other words, they can physiologically relax you.
Some limited research points to their ability to help surgical patients relax and heal after surgery, in part by bringing down both blood pressure and heart rate. So, if you’re not able to access a forest, try bringing some nature into your indoor space to help your health.
Just the sight of nature may help you heal
Surprisingly, even just resting your eyes on a green view may have the power to aid healing. A small but seminal study in 1984 linked the amount and strength of painkillers needed by postoperative patients was more when their window looked out onto a brick wall, and less when it looked out onto greenery. The patients with green views also stayed in the hospital for fewer days.
This has been repeated in some later research, such as a 2019 study published in the International Journal for Quality in Healthcare. Researchers found that women recovering from a cesarean section in the hospital who were very satisfied with their window view needed less pain medication and reported less interference from pain on their quality of life.
Looking at nature can help both your mind and body. One 2022 study found that during quarantine isolation periods, those people with visible greenness outside their windows at home had overall better mental health. And the more they looked out those windows, the more their moods and mental health improved. The findings were published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
If you’re not able to access real nature, looking at pictures can help, too. A 2020 systematic review from the same journal found that photos and videos depicting natural landscapes may relax the body.
Virtual reality (VR) that immerses someone in a virtual natural setting can also be beneficial. A 2024 systematic review published in PLoS One looked at the results of 30 randomized controlled trials. Researchers found that VR natural environments can lower anxiety, fear, and pain, and natural scenes that use the colors blue and green have the strongest effect.
Getting into nature
While these potential benefits are compelling, the body of research into the health benefits of nature is still young, and researchers don’t yet have the kind of long-term studies to demonstrate that access to nature yields real health outcomes.
Remember that a walk in the forest is no substitute for the care of a medical professional, particularly if you have ongoing conditions. Check with your healthcare provider about how a regular fitness regimen in green space may help support your overall wellness and any treatment you might be receiving.
Meanwhile, research has also shed light on the possible mental health benefits of walking in nature. These include improved mood, fewer negative thoughts, and lower levels of stress—all of which may also positively influence your physical well-being. When your five senses are fully immersed in the natural world, the body’s stress response is eased, which is akin to the type of benefit derived from mindfulness practices and meditation.
So, next time you have a choice between turning on the TV or going for a walk in the local park—or even down your block—drop the remote and lace up your sneakers. Your mind and body may thank you for it.
