What is the importance of spending time in nature?

Spending time in nature can benefit mental and physical health, support visual development, and provide valuable opportunities for learning and play.

• 10–30 minutes outdoors: Spending 10–30 minutes in nature three to seven days per week has been associated with lower blood pressure and resting heart rate, and improvements in sleep and mood; these benefits can also support performance. 1
• Sunlight and vision: Early-day sunlight helps set circadian rhythms and supports daytime mood, focus, and alertness, nighttime sleep, and metabolism. Outdoor daylight is also linked to a lower likelihood of nearsightedness; the episode describes research supporting about two hours outdoors per day for this visual benefit. 2 3
• Negative ions near water: Moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls and streams, produce negative ionization; there is some evidence of associated benefits for circadian rhythms and aspects of mental and physical health, though the speaker emphasizes that this evidence is less established than the evidence for sunlight. 4

Overall, nature offers a range of health benefits, although the effects of particular features can be difficult to separate. 5