A single outdoor session in nature lasting 15 to 30 minutes can reliably improve your mood, attention, and stress levels. Patches of wild forest are more effective than manicured lawns, but any green space is better than staying indoors. Keep it straightforward: focus on the sights, sounds, and sensations around you. No special equipment is needed. Regular practice helps maintain and enhance these benefits.
Stressed? Take a 20-minute nature pill.
Research has found that taking at least twenty minutes each day to walk or sit in a natural setting can significantly reduce stress hormone levels.
Doctors recommend spending at least 2 hours a week in nature, with sessions lasting 20 minutes or more.
Research indicates that the greatest reduction in cortisol occurs between the 20- and 30-minute marks.
15 minutes of deep nature immersion sparks awe & joy
Under-25s who spent 15 minutes without their phones focusing on colours, textures, and sounds in an arboretum reported significant increases in awe, happiness, and contentment compared with a built setting.
30-35 minute mindful forest walk halves anxiety
Students who walked mindfully among old-growth evergreens for two 35-minute sessions showed approximately 50% lower state anxiety and higher self-esteem compared to the same walk indoors.
20 min open-monitoring meditation in a garden restores attention
Beginners who meditate among plants require less mental effort and demonstrate quicker post-session attention scores compared to their classmates indoors.
15 minutes of quiet forest viewing calms body & mind
Students who sat on a bench gazing at the woodland for 15 minutes exhibited lower cortisol levels, heart rates, and blood pressures, and a stronger “rest-and-digest” response than when sitting on a busy city street.
Sit Spot Sessions
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
- Bolton, D. A. E., & Staines, W. R. (2014). Attention-based modulation of tactile stimuli: A comparison between prefrontal lesion patients and healthy age-matched controls. Neuropsychologia, 59, 53–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.03.003
- Brus, J., Heng, J. A., Beliaeva, V., Gonzalez Pinto, F., Cassarà, A. M., Neufeld, E., Grueschow, M., Imbach, L., & Polanía, R. (2024). Causal phase-dependent control of non-spatial attention in human prefrontal cortex. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01820-z
- Raffone, A., Tagini, A., & Srinivasan, N. (2010). Mindfulness and the cognitive neuroscience of attention and awareness. Zygon, 45(3), 627–646. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2010.01118.x
- Tomasino, B., & Fabbro, F. (2016). Increases in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and decreases in the rostral prefrontal cortex activation after 8 weeks of focused attention–based mindfulness meditation. Brain and Cognition, 102, 46–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2015.12.004
- Yu, Y., Yang, J., & Wu, J. (2013). Cognitive functions and neuronal mechanisms of tactile working memory. In Advances in Computational Intelligence (pp. 178–194). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-2113-8.ch010