Basking in Nature Helps Relieve Stress and Improve Mood

• The natural setting produced significantly lower pain scores — Using an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scanner, the team measured real-time brain activity and captured immediate neurological responses to pain. The participants’ brains showed a significant drop in activity on the Neurologic Pain Signature (NPS), a biomarker that detects nociception, which refers to the pain signal transmission from the body to the brain.

In simpler terms, think of nociception as the raw data of pain — it’s the body’s first reaction to harm before emotions or thoughts enter the picture. In essence, nature turned down that signal.

• Self-reported scores show similar findings — Participants rated their pain intensity and unpleasantness significantly lower when exposed to nature. The difference between urban and indoor settings, by contrast, was negligible.

• Changes in brain activity were immediately visible — What the participants felt weren’t long-term adaptations or delayed psychological responses. In other words, nature altered the pain processing circuits in real time, and these were just virtual nature exposures. The key takeaway here is that if a virtual exposure reduces pain in a lab setting, real-life exposure could be even more powerful.

When the researchers further analyzed brain imaging scans, they found that the thalamus — a relay station for pain signals — was significantly less active during nature exposure. The S2 and pINS, which help your brain identify the type and location of the pain, also showed suppressed activity. This means that the nature setting not only lessened the pain, but also interrupted the pain signal before it even reached full processing.

• Nature modulates your attention in a unique way — Instead of demanding focus or triggering stress like urban scenes often do, nature draws you in gently. As noted by the researchers, “The reasoning behind this argument is that nature possesses many features that are softly fascinating to humans and engage us in a distracting but not overly demanding manner.”

• Mood disturbances were lower — Right away, the researchers noted that the participants experienced lower mood disturbances after the forest wellness trip. For comparison, that kind of improvement in mood is often seen after weeks of psychotherapy. Moreover, these weren’t subtle shifts. Feelings like tension, depression, anger, fatigue, and confusion all plummeted.

Meanwhile, positive states such as vigor and self-esteem climbed. The highest drop in stress was recorded on day two, showing that the benefits kicked in fast, and didn’t require a full week to take hold. When researchers broke down the data by gender, they found women experienced even greater reductions in negative emotions than men. In particular, women saw the biggest improvements in fatigue and confusion.

• A day out in nature helps boost physical health — Blood pressure readings, while already in the normal range at baseline, dropped noticeably by the third day. Specifically, both systolic blood pressure and diastolic pressure declined.

• Walking and a nature setting synergize to maximize health benefits — Participants walked an average of over 13,000 steps per day, with men clocking in over 18,000 steps on the first two days. While movement played a role, the researchers emphasized that the calming forest atmosphere, gentle activities like flower-viewing and hot spring-bathing, and the absence of urban noise were equally important.

Stress scores peaked on the first day, dropped dramatically by the second, and then stabilized. This pattern shows the forest environment acted quickly on the nervous system, not gradually or with a delayed effect.

• The key biological mechanism at work — The shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous system dominance creates the benefits mentioned in the study. In layman’s terms, your sympathetic nervous system is the one handling stress and emergencies, raising heart rate, increasing blood pressure, and putting your body on high alert. That’s great for surviving threats, but terrible when it runs constantly.

The parasympathetic system, on the other hand, is your body’s repair mode. It slows the heart, calms the breath, and tells your body, “You’re safe now.” Forest environments are a natural setting that reliably stimulates this healing benefit of your nervous system. The combination of quiet, scenery, fresh air, and physical movement acts as a switch, shifting your body out of survival mode and into repair mode.

• An experienced guide facilitates better mental benefits — Participants weren’t just walking blindly through the woods. They were guided through a structured experience designed to deepen their sensory awareness. This type of mindful immersion further reduces mental tension by limiting distractions and pulling attention away from rumination and back toward the present moment.

• One walk in the forest already created big improvements — Researchers measured six emotional states using a tool called the Profile of Mood States (POMS). These states included tension, depression, anger, fatigue, confusion, and vigor. After the walk, nearly every negative emotion decreased significantly, while feelings of energy and clarity improved.

• The rate of change in mood was rapid — Just two hours outdoors was enough to shift key health markers. For example, blood pressure decreased, and participants were walking and breathing in a natural setting. Mentally, the shift was just as powerful. Participants showed improvements in mood scores across the board.

• Those who started off with mild depressive tendencies had the biggest emotional gains — That means if you’re more irritable than usual, constantly tired, or struggling to concentrate, this kind of nature-based reset will do good for your mental well-being.

Going back to the study, the people who experienced this benefit weren’t in therapy or taking medication. They were regular adults facing regular stress, and the forest gave them a mood boost that’s immediately felt.

• Relaxing compounds exist in the air — Trees release compounds called phytoncides — natural plant chemicals that you absorb just by breathing. These molecules have been shown in the reviewed literature to lower stress, enhance immune function, and promote calm.

• The structure of the experience is also important — Participants walked in small groups, guided by facilitators who encouraged awareness of sounds, smells, textures, and light.

When your mind isn’t bombarded by screens, traffic, or artificial lighting, it naturally begins to reset. Focus returns. Mental chatter slows down. This type of mental restoration, engaged by walking in nature, is especially useful for people who feel mentally depleted at the end of each workday.

1. Get into a forest environment for at least two hours each week — As noted by the research, even a single session of forest exposure already lowered blood pressure, reduced negative moods like confusion and fatigue, and dropped mood disturbances significantly.

But what if you live in a city? The next best alternative is going to the closest natural area you can find, such as a park, or quiet urban areas with trees, birdsong, and minimal city noise. Walk slowly. Breathe deeply. Use all five senses. Don’t listen to music or podcasts while you’re out there — your brain needs the quiet to reset.

2. Use structured nature exposure as your nervous system therapy — If you’re someone who has tried breathwork or meditation but felt like they didn’t achieve anything, try doing them in nature.

Don’t just walk — pause. Sit on a rock or near a stream and feel your breath move through your body. This is the parasympathetic nervous system’s natural territory. The outdoors makes everything else you do — like grounding practices or slow breathing — work better. If you’re extremely sensitive or burnt out, start with short durations and build up.

3. Give your brain a daily digital detox window — One of the root causes of nervous system imbalance is constant sensory overstimulation. If you are on your phone first thing in the morning and last thing at night, you’re keeping your body in a fight-or-flight loop all day. I suggest blocking off a one-hour screen-free window every morning and every evening to help your mind wind down and get ready for proper rest.

4. Cut out processed foods and vegetable oils — While going outdoors will do you good, that’s only one piece of the puzzle. If you’re still eating out often or buying packaged snacks, you’re flooding your system with inflammatory vegetable oils made from soybean, corn, sunflower, and canola.

These oils increase oxidative stress and disrupt your mitochondria, which are the energy factories inside your cells. They wreck your ability to produce stable energy and trigger chronic low-grade inflammation, a known driver of pain and mood instability.⁴

I recommend switching entirely to saturated fats like grass fed butter, tallow, or ghee. In addition, start eating healthy carbohydrates to give your cells the proper energy they need, as well as protein and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. For an in-depth look at how to structure your diet, read my article “Proteins, Fats and Carbs: Basics of Nutritional Biochemistry 101.”