Watching koi fish and listening to classical music may help you! Several laboratory studies have demonstrated improvements in stress, fatigue recovery, relaxation, and immunity function improvements after the participants had viewed videos from natural environments like what you will see in this video; happy koi fish swimming with classical music in the background.
Watching videos from natural environments may boost your immune system, reduce stress, lower your blood pressure, and lift your mood. This is part of what we call ‘Nature Therapy’ – an important element in our holistic approach to better health.
Nature therapy is defined as:
“A set of practices aimed at achieving ‘preventive medical effects’ through exposure to natural stimuli that render a state of physiological relaxation and boost the weakened immune functions to prevent diseases”.
Modern technology like MRI, near-infrared spectroscopy, EEC, and more has enabled the evaluation of body responses to indirect exposures to nature through photos and videos, especially cerebral activity, heart rate variability, heart rate, pulse rate, and blood pressure, and more.
The studies have shown that viewing images of natural landscapes, whether presented as photographs, or as video scenes, resulted in restorative effects, such as deactivating visual and attentional areas of the brain, reducing eye blinking, and relieving stress.
The research has validated some ideas that we all intuitively know; for example, that we feel relaxed and calm in a forest environment, or when watching fish swim, and in many other nature environments:
Our bodies have positive physiological responses to such environments, also to indirect exposure through photos and videos.
This has created a growing interest for what is called ‘forest therapy’ – or even ‘forest bathing’ – or as it is called in Japanese: shinrin-yoku – as well as for other forms of exposure to nature.
We all understand that the best option would be to visit a real forest, or walk along a real beach, or sit near a fish pond in real life – but for the many who for various reasons do not have that option it is good to know that visual stimulations from viewing nature on a photo or in a video – safe in your own home – produce healthy activities in your brain and nervous system, can boost your immune system, lower your blood pressure and certainly lift your mood.
That is why we have made the nature-related videos that you will find in these three playlists:
1)
The Healing Power of Nature & Calm Music
(with sights & sounds of nature plus calm music)
2)
The Healing Power of Nature & Classical Music
(with the sights of nature plus classical music)
3)
The Healing Power of the Sights & Sounds of Nature
(with the sights & sounds of nature, without any background music)
COVID-19:
During these difficult Covid-times, if you are among the many who have to stay at home without any chance of going out for a walk, nor experience nature in real life, we hope our virtual visits to nature will be beneficial to you.
