Nature, in fact, we can't live without it. Nature is everywhere, even in the city. You wouldn't think it, but those dandelions that find a place to grow between the tiles are of course also a part of nature. That's just a small piece of nature, though. In this blog, I will discuss spending time in obvious greenery. Like a big city park, the forest or the countryside/outdoors.
In the Netherlands, the majority of people live in urban areas. This affects your health. Spending time in greenery is important because it provides all kinds of health benefits.
In the process, people have much less interaction with nature now than they did 20 years ago. Research shows that it is important to have that interaction, not only for good health, but also for a good relationship with nature itself. When you are in nature you recognize the importance of nature. If you're not in nature much, you often don't recognize the importance of nature as much. This can eventually put you in a negative circle regarding nature, while exposure to nature puts you in a positive circle[1].
So if you don't spend time in nature you won't enjoy those benefits. People who live in cities are more likely to develop high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and obesity.
Research shows that spending at least 30 minutes a week in nature can already have benefits for your social, physical and mental health[2]. The more time you spend in nature, the healthier nature is for you.
Because spending time in nature creates positive feelings, nature also makes you look at it in a positive way and start doing positive things there as well[3]. That, very briefly, is the hypnosis of nature.
Influence of nature on your physical health
The aforementioned research shows that spending time in nature is good for lowering your blood pressure, among other things.
In addition, plants purify the air. As a result, the air in large urban parks will be cleaner than in the rest of the city. Of course, you will have the cleanest air if you just get out of the city and go for a walk in a forest or among the meadows.
Nature also hypnotizes you to some extent. At home you are often hypnotized by the television to sit quietly on the couch, but in nature you are actually hypnotized to do something active[4]. The least you do is walk through nature or sunbathe, which in turn is good for vitamin D production.
That activity, in turn, reduces blood pressure, the risk of type II diabetes and obesity.
Influence of nature on your mental health
In research on how much time you should spend in nature for your health, it appears that in addition to lowering your blood pressure, spending time in nature also reduces feelings of depression.
Nature also hypnotizes you to relax and recharge. People who spend time in nature often experience less stress than people who hardly spend any time in nature.
In the process, it also turns out that your emotional state can change by spending time in nature. After 5 minutes in nature, you can already feel the effect. You have less stress, you can think better and you are happier in nature. You also have more self-confidence.
These effects allow nature to hypnotize you from a stressful state to a relaxed state with more confidence in your future.
If you're not feeling well, taking a walk in nature is always a good idea.
Influence of nature on your social life
The research on how much time you need to spend in nature for your whole health also shows that if you go to nature often or regularly it has a positive effect on your social life (Perhaps because you go to nature with friends).
Experiencing the hypnosis of nature
As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, it is necessary to be in nature to be positively influenced and to get under the hypnosis of nature.
So how do you experience nature's hypnosis?
Fortunately, the researchers aren't just talking about the forests on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, they're also just talking about city parks. So whether you live in Amsterdam or Klazienaveen you can enjoy nature anywhere.
What is required is that you get out there.
Sometimes, however, you may have fears about getting out the door and really enjoying nature for a while. For example, you may fear ticks, because Lyme disease, or wasps (because they fly around near those public trash cans).
In that case, it's important to get over those fears of nature's critters and dust.
As mentioned, you can get a kind of negative circle about nature if you never go there. You have to break that negative pattern first.
This can be done with hypnosis. A hypnosis expert can help you identify where this negative pattern has come from. Where did the negative beliefs of nature come from?
This is done, for example, with regression. Regression is a technique you perform under hypnosis. You then go back to the moment when a belief arose. These are often moments from your childhood, such as when you were annoyingly stung by a wasp or something similar as a child.
With your adult knowledge, the event can seem much less scary than it was and, as a result, you can more quickly gain the conviction that it's okay to enjoy that city park.
Changing beliefs about nature
Sometimes you also have stubborn beliefs that don't go away so easily with regression. In that case, repeating helpful beliefs during self-hypnosis can be a solution.
Helpful beliefs may include:
"It's healthy to be in nature."
"I feel happier when I spend at least half an hour a week in nature."
"I take good care of my body when I spend half an hour a week in nature."
"When I enjoy nature, nature enjoys me."
These are just examples. Depending on your beliefs, hypnotic suggestions may be different.
These hypnotic suggestions are given while you are under hypnosis. Or you repeat them aloud while you are under hypnosis. When you are under hypnosis you are more open to these suggestions than if you are reading this blog right now. Because of the hypnosis you accept them faster and they also become part of your being faster.
Being Mindful in Nature
To really enjoy nature to its fullest, you can be very mindful in the moment. You try to really keep your focus with the nature around you and thus stay in the here and now with your thoughts. To not think about your bike or car standing by the nature area. To not think about how exciting you find it in the outdoors.
You enjoy the flowers, the breeze, the buzzing insects, birds of prey and herons, the heat on your skin.
That mindfulness in the moment allows you to relax and enjoy the mental health benefits of nature to the fullest.
If you're afraid you might find it difficult to be mindful in nature and really enjoy the full benefits, a hypnosis expert can help you with that mindfulness. This can be done, for example, through a guided visualization in which you can fully imagine yourself enjoying nature. That you are active in nature and that you are out socially with friends.
Nature hypnotizes, encourages you to do what is good for you, and you can be hypnotized to spend more time in nature. Want to know exactly how hypnosis works and what you can do with it to help yourself and other people? Then come to the hypnosis playshop or enroll in one of the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' training courses. Ask about online options if that suits you better.
[1] https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fee.1225
[2] https://www.nature.com/articles/srep28551
[3] https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/65/5/476/324489
[4] https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/65/5/476/324489
