{"id":30196,"date":"2025-12-15T01:59:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/?p=30196"},"modified":"2025-12-30T08:40:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T16:40:32","slug":"ten-ways-nature-can-help-you-have-a-healthy-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sempervirens.org\/news\/ten-ways-nature-can-help-you-have-a-healthy-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Ways Nature Can Help You Have a Healthy 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\t\t\tTen Ways Nature Can Help You\t<\/h1>\n

\n\t\t\tHave a Healthy 2026\t<\/h3>\n\tby Suzanne Bartlett Hackenmiller, MD
\nDr. Hackenmiller is the Chief Medical Advisor for the popular trail app AllTrails<\/a>. Our thanks to AllTrails for helping to produce this story.<\/em>\n

The new year often brings contemplation, motivation and resolution for greater health and happiness. Lists of life hacks, vitality secrets and weight loss tricks abound. In 2026, consider adding nature to your list of evidence-based wellness interventions. Nature encounters can be big, bold adventures, or family-friendly and free. There is something for everyone in this list of ten reasons–doctor’s orders–to opt outdoors this year, including a map from AllTrails<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t1. Improve Your Mood\t<\/h4>\n\t

There is an ever-growing body of research supporting the notion that spending time in nature improves mental health. In one study (Bratman, 2015<\/a>), participants who took 90-minute walks in natural settings reported less rumination-or negative, spinning thoughts-than their counterparts who walked in an urban setting. These same participants were studied by advanced imaging techniques after their nature walks and were found to have less brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, which is the brain region involved in depression, behavioral withdrawal, and negative self-reflective processes. Consider making 2026 the year you add nature to your mental health resolutions<\/a>!<\/p>\n

photo by D. Royal<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t2. Reach Your Fitness Goals\t<\/h4>\n\t

Not only did a review of eleven studies by Thompson Coons, et al.<\/a> find that outdoor exercise led to greater feelings of revitalization, increased energy, a greater sense of satisfaction and increased likelihood of repeating the activity as compared to indoor exercise, but outdoor exercise was also found in a 2013 study by Richard Mitchell<\/a> to improve mental health over exercise in other types of environments. So, forego the gym, dress for the weather, and plan your next exercise activity outdoors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

photo by S. Ratay<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t3. Enhance Your Memory, Attention Span and Productivity\t<\/h4>\n\t

From a 2008 study by Marc Berman, et al.<\/a>, we learned that memory and attention span was improved by twenty percent after just one hour spent interacting with nature. Later, a study by Kate Lee and colleagues<\/a> found that students who took 40-second microbreaks to gaze at a screensaver of nature images (versus controls who gazed at a photo of a bare roof) had improved attention spans and fewer errors in completing a task after the break. This is among the many studies suggesting that simply gazing at nature images<\/a> is good for our health when it is not practical or possible to step outdoors.<\/p>\n

photo by S. Thrun-Huddart<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t4. Boost Your Immune Function\t<\/h4>\n\t

The coronavirus pandemic has brought awareness to the importance of maintaining a healthy immune system to fight infection. A review article by Ming Kuo in 2015<\/a> made the argument that an immune boost is the basis for the many health benefits of time spent in nature. Whether it is from inhaling the immune-boosting phytoncides in the essential oils of trees, or ingesting microparticles of healthy bacteria from soil, numerous studies support this theory.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t5. Reduce Stress\t<\/h4>\n\t

When adult study participants spent just 20-30 minutes engaged in their preferred outdoor activity, significant reductions in the stress hormones cortisol and alpha-amylase were found in their saliva (Hunter et al., 2019<\/a>). Whether sitting, walking, birdwatching, or gardening, the choice is yours<\/a> and benefits start at just twenty minutes a day.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAllTrails’ Map of Total Fitness Trails for 2026\t<\/h2>\n\t