Human-Nature Research

There is a common pattern to much of the early nature research noted by medical doctors Eva Selbub and Alan Logan in their book, Your Brain on Nature.^[1] Ancient and folk nature medicines (e.g., Indigenous and First Nation peoples, Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Middle Ages) are often labeled “pseudo-scientific” because of their claims rely on anecdotal evidence or scientifically unmeasurable phenomenon. Only later, sometimes after decades of research, some nature medicines are “proven”^[2] by science. Selbub and Logan provide multiple examples of early nature medicine being proven later by science, including Roman physician Cornelius Celsus’ advice of walking the garden to improve health, Weir Mitchell’s 1874 “camp cure” (camping outdoors) for overworked urbanities, and nineteenth-century sanitariums designed to emulate nature for improving mental and physical health.

With the accumulation of nature-health research studies, such as Japanese researchers demonstrating scientific health findings for forest bathing,^[3] there is a marked increase in the credibility of ancient and folk nature medicine. For instance, some doctors are prescribing nature activities for stress-related health conditions.^[4] All of this is relevant to listening to nature because these nature prescriptions (e.g., walking in nature, outdoor camping, designing nature-friendly buildings) involve listening to nature (perceiving, interpreting, understanding, and making meaning) in ways that benefit our health and well-being.

Human-Nature Cognitive and Psychological Benefits

Some early nature research began with testing the influence of nature scenes on stressed students (after an exam) and found that nature scenes increased scores on affection, playfulness, and elation.^[5] More recently, Kathryn Schertz and Marc Berman review the cognitive benefits of being in nature (what I’m calling listening to nature).^[6] Their review includes survey, correlational, and experimental research with various nature-based stimuli (e.g., real-world exposure, images, sounds, and virtual reality). Summary results show nature-based cognitive improvements in working memory, cognitive flexibility, and attentional control.

An extensive review of the literature on the effects of nature, including large data-based studies (correlational, experimental, and field studies) and meta-analyses, support the positive benefits of nature on our well-being:

. . . brief contact with nature produces positive emotional states, green exercise (outdoors in green landscapes) has a positive effect on mental well-being . . . people were happier when in natural environments than when in urban ones. ^[7]

Nature connectedness, a stable pro-environmental attitude and behavioral trait, is significantly related to positive affect and life satisfaction in a meta-analysis of thirty studies with 8500 individuals.^[8] Additional reviews of nature research reveal that:

. . . outdoor educational/experiential learning activities show increased autonomy and sense of well being including: personal growth, self-esteem, self-regulation, and social competency . . . [and nature can increase feelings of] . . . awe and inspiration, connection to a greater whole, and spiritual exaltation–the transcendent aspects of eudemonic wellbeing . . .^[9]

Considering the high cost of health care in today’s economy, this literature review on nature suggests that engaging with and listening to nature may be a supportive and cost-effective method to boost mood, reduce stress, and promote health and well-being alongside traditional health care. In the Western world view of medicine, this claim about the positive influences of nature on health fits under the umbrella of alternative or complementary medicine. However, others, like medical doctor Andrew Weil at the University of Arizona, have long argued that nature and other healing modalities (e.g., nutrition, yoga, and meditation) should be considered a disciplinary field in their own right, something he  calls “integrative medicine.”^[10]

Broadening the Conceptualization of Human-Nature

Gregory Bratman et al. provide a broader conceptualization of nature than the previous research reviewed that includes, “. . . land, water, potted plants, parks, wilderness, weather, geology, and other forces.”^[11] In this broader conceptualization of nature, “nature experiences” include perceptions and interactions with nature using all sensory modalities.^[12] Within this broader nature framework, the research reviewed shows that nature experiences have many health benefits.

Bratman et al.’s summary of the nature research^[13] parallels that of Capaldi et al.^[14] across diverse research settings. These settings include experimental lab studies (e.g., images and sounds have positive benefits for psychological and physiological markers) and fieldwork (e.g., walking in nature vs urban settings results in positive changes for affect, cognitive, and physiological measures). The research also includes cross-sectional and longitudinal studies (e.g., psychological well-being from exposure to green and blue spaces and gardens).

Bratman et al. provide a model^[15] of nature’s positive impact on mental health. The four main areas of the model are natural features of nature (size, type, and qualities like composition), exposure (proximity to nature, time spent in contact with nature), experience (interaction patterns, and dose–the amount that is “absorbed”), and effects (mental health and psychological well-being). While the exposure and experience parts of the model are directly relevant to listening to nature, the model does not explicitly acknowledge the role of listening, particularly in how individuals process their “exposure and experience” in nature. Moreover, the model, in identifying separate variables in the human-nature experience, does not account for the holistic experience of “being in nature.”

A third review of the relationship between nature and health by Howard Frumkin et al. focuses on health and “nature contact.”^[16] Several research studies are cited to support each of the following health benefits of nature:^[17]

. . . reduced stress, depression, anxiety, aggression, ADHD symptoms, blood pressure, obesity, mortality . . . increases in happiness, well-being, life satisfaction, prosocial behavior, and social connectedness . . . improvements in immune function, congestive heart failure, postoperative recovery, birth outcomes, pain control, asthma, allergies, child development [cognitive and motor skills], general health for adults, cancer patients . . . and better sleep and eyesight . . .

The forms of nature contact reviewed all assume that the individual is listening to nature through the listening capacities of perceiving, interpreting, understanding, and making meaning. Based on this review, I conclude that listening to nature is a contributing factor to positive human health.

Theoretical Explanations of Human-Nature Benefits

In sum, reviews of the literature on the health benefits of the human-nature relationship by Capaldi et al., Frumkin et al., Schertz and Berman, and Bratman et al. all support the positive health benefits of exposure, contact, connection, and time spent in nature–all of which require some degree of listening to nature. Following, I briefly review five theoretical explanations for the positive human-nature relationship. These theories are Biophilia, Stress Reduction, Attention Restoration, Perceptual Fluency, and Prospect Refuge.

Biophilia theory^[18] maintains that humans have an innate emotional connection to other living organisms, including an affiliation with all forms of nature. Stress Reduction theory^[19] suggests that nonthreatening natural environments invoke positive feelings of well-being thereby reducing psychological and physiological indicators of stress. Attention Restoration theory^[20] posits that nature captivates our attention (called soft fascination), allowing our attentional resources to replenish. Perceptual Fluency theory^[21] emphasizes the ease of processing of natural stimuli, increasing positive emotion which in turn increases attention in a cyclical fashion. Finally, Prospect Refuge theory^[22] maintains that certain landscapes offer a prospect (a clear field of view) and a refuge (a place to hide, to be alone without being monitored), providing a sense of comfort and protection.

These theories are complementary explanations for the positive human-nature relationship. By way of illustration, I demonstrate how various aspects of listening to the seashore can be interpreted through the lens of the five theoretical perspectives. Listening to the seashore can involve visually following the curving seashore line, sensing the coolness of seafoam on the feet, and feeling the warmth of the sun on the skin. These experiences of the seashore (perceptual fluencies) potentially capture and fascinate human attention (attention restoration) with the visual experience of the seashore providing a clear view of the shoreline (prospect refuge theory). Together, these experiences can evoke a feeling of well-being (stress reduction) and enhance a sense of connection with life (biophilia).

Highlighting the Role of Listening in Human-Nature Research

This review of the empirical literature and theoretical explanations of the human-nature relationship describes human exposure, contact, and connection with nature without elaborating on how these processes imply specific types of listening. While exposure to nature may not imply intentional listening,^[23] contact, especially connection, with nature, implies some degree of intentional listening.

I suggest that attentional, perceptive, interpretive, and meaning-making processes of listening are significant and underdeveloped parts of the human-nature relationship worthy of further elaboration. In addition, most of the previous research reviewed on human exposure, contact, and connection with nature is aligned with the scientific paradigm. Science is only one form of epistemology or way of knowing about the world.^[24] We need other ways of knowing for a complete understanding of the relationship between listening and nature.^[25] To complete the picture of the relationship between listening and nature, I propose exploring ways of knowing that honor the subjective phenomenological experience of “being in nature.” One illustration of this type of research is called “nature language,” a way of combining the phenomenological experience of listening in nature with a scientific perspective.^[26]

Nature language provides a way to understand human-nature interactions’ depth, meanings, and rich experience. To provide a sense of the variety of these human-nature patterns in nature language, I paraphrase examples from Kahn.^[27] Drop into the feeling of your first-person subjective experience as you:

Wonder what lies beyond the winding path on a trail . . . Consider how restful it feels to sit under a large shade tree . . . Jump at the sound of a rattle in the brush while hiking . . . Stand atop a hill with a clear view . . . Reflect on the cycle of life and death while watching flower petals fall.

There may be a near-infinite number of these nature language patterns depending on the form of nature, person, place, context, and time. Kahn surmises that there are probably two- to three hundred central natural language patterns that describe most human-nature interactions.^[28] This proposed nature language framework is closely associated with the interpretive and meaning-making process of listening to nature.

In sum, there is ample research evidence and theoretical explanations for the human health benefits of nature. There is some evidence for a natural language of human-nature interactions that blends phenomenology and science to highlight the importance of listening in nature. What remains unclear is how to develop our nature listening capacities to take maximum advantage of these health benefits. In the next section, I explore three ways to increase our ability to listen to nature. First, I explore the multi-modal senses of listening. Second, I describe how flow learning supports deeper listening in nature. Third, I introduce the Japanese practice of “forest bathing.” Each of these sections ends with an activity designed to enhance the ability to listen more deeply to nature and, in turn, experience greater health and well-being.