As we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, we can recognize President Theodore Roosevelt as the Conservationist President. He established roughly 230 million acres of public lands to protect America’s natural heritage. His life long passion for nature drove sweeping preservation policies that forever shaped our national outdoor landscape. These beautiful spaces of mountains, forests, canyons and plains are now our National Parks. Being an outdoorsman, he knew how restorative these lands were as a natural resource for the American people. You may have noticed this phenomenon yourself, feeling restored after watching a sunset, the ocean, or just watching the birds outside your window after a rough day or feeling in low spirits.

 

As urban areas began springing up and people became busier, Miles Richardson, School of Psychology, UK, wanted to assess the actual relationship people now had with their natural worlds. He found that from the years from 1800 to 2020, there had been a profound decline in people’s connection to nature. He found this separation has been driven by environmental change and the intergenerational knowledge of how to be connected to the natural world not being passed down to the next generations.

 

Psychologists, Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, developed the Attention Restoration Theory (ART), in response to technological advancement and ever-increasing indoor entertainment of the 1980s and 1990s. They proposed that nature has the capacity to renew attention after exerting mental energy, such as; after spending sleepless nights studying or working tirelessly on a project. Their book chronicles their 20 year exploration on the importance of nature and the impact of natural environments on mood, state of mind and health.

 

The Kaplans proposed four states of attention, to observe, in yourself, as you move toward nature’s restoration. First, clear your mind by simply letting thoughts and images flow gently away. As your mind clears, you recover from the directed attention state used to finish a task and your attention is restored to normal levels. Next, allow yourself to be gently distracted and engaged in a low stimulation activity (clouds drifting, leaves rustling) which reduces internal noise, providing a quiet internal space to relax. Finally, spend enough time in this low stimulation state that you are able to relax, restore your attention, and reflect on your life priorities, actions, and goals. This is the stage that brings on the deepest restoration.

 

When choosing a restorative environment, have a sense of being away from daily concerns. Encourage a soft fascination with your surroundings so your attention is less active and you can reflect and introspect. Make sure this is a space where you feel comfortable and not out-of-place. Finally, your restorative environment is compatible with you and you are doing something that is familiar.. Engaging in a new activity or learning a new skill set is unlikely to make you feel relaxed and restored.