Do you ever feel stressed when you’re at work? If you do, researchers have a suggestion for you. Try looking at some trees.
A new study suggests that just looking at trees makes stressed-out people feel more calm and relaxed. So you don’t need to take a walk in the woods. You don’t even need to leave your office! Just watching a short video that features trees will apparently do the trick.
In the study, 160 research subjects were put into a stressful situation. (They had to prepare a speech and solve math problems in front of judges.) Once they were properly stressed out, they were shown one of ten videos. The videos showed cityscapes with varying amounts of trees. The subjects who saw cityscapes with lots of trees reported feeling much more relaxed than the subjects who saw cityscapes with very few trees. So just watching trees reduced their level of stress.
Will this work for you? Who knows? But it’s certainly an easy thing to try! I’ve posted a video taken at Redwood National Park. Check it out and see how those trees make you feel!
Tatera, K. (2016, May 10). Just looking at trees can reduce your stress levels, study finds. The Science Explorer. Retrieved from: http://thescienceexplorer.com/brain-and-body/just-looking-trees-can-reduce-your-stress-levels-study-finds
