Live Nature Wise: The Nature Dose
No matter who or where we are, we all need to Live Nature Wise by getting a daily dose of nature – throughout our day, year, and entire lives. Evidence shows that contact with nature can provide benefits to mental and physical health, social wellbeing and cohesion, and positive healthy behaviour like physical activity.
What is a Nature Dose?
A Nature Dose is a good dosage of just that – nature. It’s being in, and intentionally noticing, nature through all of our senses – seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and even tasting nature through whole foods.
We define a Nature Dose as the health and wellbeing benefits of a nurturing regular, multi-sensorial connection with nature, including caring for nature – for a minimum of 2 hours per week.
When we spend 2 hours a week connecting with and caring for nature, we’re getting our Nature Dose. We can all build our own Nature Dose as a daily, life-long form of self-care we can do wherever there is healthy nature for us to connect with and care for.
You can use our Nature Dose pyramid to plan your own personal NatureDose at work, rest, learning and play.
Research shows that spending 2 hours a week connecting with nature brings about a multitide of health and wellbeing benefits.
How do I get a Nature Dose?
Nature is just what the doctor ordered. Research shows that the health benefits of nature start to add up when you feel like you’ve had a meaningful nature experience, whether it’s sitting quietly on a park bench listening to the wind rustle the leaves in the trees, or something more exerting, like hiking up a mountain.
For additional help, PARx Canada has five simple tips for you to make the most of your nature prescription
Learn more
- It’s time to get out there and connect with nature. We want to help you get your daily Nature Dose, so we’re working with partners and stakeholders to develop the People and Parks Foundation Nature Locator.
- Looking for inspiration and ideas for connecting with nature? Check out PARx Canada’s five simple tips for you to make the most of your nature prescription.
- Nature isn’t just here to serve us humans. We have a reciprocal relationship with nature, and as Traditional Owners around the world have long contended – when you care for Country, Country cares for you.
- Find out more about how you can support thriving nature: #NatureForAll Toolkits developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The Nature Dose Pyramid
The Nature Dose guide we’ve developed is a framework for better understanding how nature can help us feel happier and healthier. This tool can support us to consider and deepen our NatureDose across timeframes, proximity, activity and nature intensity. It may also help us generate ideas for how we can integrate more Nature Doses into our existing routines.
For example, we can connect with and care for nature in small ways – like watering our pot plants or picking up rubbish on the beach. We can expand our interaction with nature by visiting our local park or botanic gardens. We can go even deeper into the green by planning a weekend retreat to the country, or a camping trip to a more remote nature place.
Contact us to find out more about our Nature Dose guide and start Nature Dosing today!
The Nature Dose: Research and Evidence
There’s a growing body of evidence about the health and wellbeing benefits of a regular, multi-sensorial connection with nature. We’ve shared a few of our favourite articles, studies and research here for you to peruse.
Nature Dose for 2 hours – the evidence:
Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing
Health and wellbeing (mental and physical):
Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments
View through a window may influence recovery after surgery
Green space and stress: Evidence from cortisol measures in deprived urban communities
Doses of nature: Stress reduction theory
Why viewing nature is more fascinating and restorative than viewing buildings
Positive Psychology: Attention Restoration Theory
Positive Psychology: Positive Effects of Nature
How nature contributes to mental and physical health
WHO: Nature, Biodiversity and Health – an overview of interconnections
A solution for climate anxiety: Spending more time in nature
Ecopsychology: How immersion in nature benefits your health
Associations between nature exposure and health: A review of the evidence
A review of the evidence: exposure to natural environments
Nature Connectedness and Eudaimonic Well-being
Natural Environments and Subjective Well-being
Nature and social health:
More green, less lonely? A longitudinal study
Nature and memory:
Nature scents and memory