Beautiful Sunday: Getting Close To Nature Helps Our Overworked Brain To Relax

Ever wondered why it feel soooooo good to be out in nature?

NATURE'S CALL TO WILD - Science is proving what we've always known intuitively: nature does good things to the human brain—it makes us healthier, happier, and smarter.

David Strayer (a cognitive psychologist), has proven that our brain is like an overused muscle and being in nature helps the prefrontal cortex (brain’s command center) to slow down and to relax.

Nature calms your mind, you experience silence and stillness, it reminds you of who you really are, you can see and feel God's hand.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/01/call-to-wild/

I have experienced that when I am over-stressed and my stomach is in a knot, I yearn to escape to nature. When I allow myself the time to reconnect with mother nature, ( whether it is at the sea, in the wild or just sitting in my concrete jungle listening to the songs of the birds in the early morning or watching the sun rise or set), I always feel more positive and rejuvenated.

Last week I went to a nature reserve and decided on this particular morning to take a game drive with my kids. Unfortunately I did not take my camera and had to resort to my trusted old mobile phone to capture the beauty which surrounded me. The down side of using a mobile phone is that when you zoom in, the photo quality changes and in the wild, where you are not allowed to get out of your car to get a closer shot the zoom functionality is very important.

On this photo you can see the chalets overlooking the dam where the hippos resides and a hippo family soaking in the water next to the island in the middle of the dam. My son at a stage, wondered if these hippos were real because for two days straight they looked like they haven't moved from their spot. While sitting watching them the one took a yawn and we were convinced they are for real.

The main photo, early morning sunrise, followed by one of two Springbucks (gazelle), a male with the longer thicker horns and the female which is smaller and the horns are thinner. They are the national animal of South Africa.

On the second photo, you can see the one eland laying lethargically, totally undisturbed by my presence while the other one was a bit more skeptic and got up.

The third photo, is of a flock of guineafowl scrubbing around for food.

Last but not least: The entire dam was filled with waterlilies, which I absolutely adore.

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At the end of the day, we come out in nature not because the science says it does something to us, but because of how it makes us feel

Image Credit

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