Stress and Vitamin G
“Those who contemplate the beauty of earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” ~Rachel Carson
Although many studies have shown vitamin G beneficial for stress reduction, mental clarity and healing, you won’t find it at your health food store. Most likely your doctor won’t know what you are talking about if you ask him or her. In my client practice, stress reduction is often a top priority and yet most haven’t heard about vitamin G. Vitamin G is not a supplement you can purchase. So what is it?
In turns out vitamin G is a term used to describe the positive health benefits of gazing at green space or natural landscapes. Coined in Europe, it represents healthcare architects incorporating green spaces into the design of new hospitals and clinics with the goal of decreasing recovery time for patients. Several studies have shown hospitalized patients recover faster when their hospital room window overlooks a green space.
This resonates with me as I have always felt better after spending time in nature whether going for a walk in my neighborhood or in the Colorado mountains. Intuitively time outdoors has always been my place of choice especially during stressful times. In my generation as a child, summers were spent outside playing in the woods, or in vacant lots often building tree forts, waging pine cone fights, working in strawberry fields, riding horses, or picking wild flowers. On those summer days, we left home to play outside and didn’t return home until dinnertime. When I look back, my best childhood memories took place in nature.
In the early 1900s, Harvard psychologist, Dr. William James noted that there are two forms of human attention. The first form is directed attention. This is the attention we use on demanding tasks such as driving a car, walking through an urban environment, organizing or planning, problem solving, multi tasking, or making a decision or judgment. This kind of attention is depleting and often demands hypervigilance. It is focused on getting specific tasks done and is draining mentally.
The second form of attention is involuntary attention. This is easy and mentally effortless. We use this when we notice the natural environment around us. This form of involuntary attention is refueling and restorative. It holds our attention often in the form of fascination while at the same time allowing for reflection. It is the opposite of the nonstop attentional demands of typical urban, busy city streets.
Nature replenishes mental fatigue in the same way that food, water and sleep restores our bodies. The activities of everyday life in a man made environment is draining and a take away of our mental energy. Nature gives us back mental restoration. It sounds unscientific but psychologists call this attention restoration theory, or ART. ART says that urban environments compete for our direct attention when performing tasks. Our attention is hijacked. These demands are depleting and absent in natural landscapes. Mountains, meadows, lakes, oceans, rivers demand little from us, but are engaging, changing and attention getting. In natural environments we can focus on the beauty of the natural world, while thinking about other things.
In Japan, there is a version of natural therapy called shinrin-yoku or forest bathing. This is sometimes referred to as the therapeutic effect of forests and requires patients to take long walks through wooded areas. Researchers have found measurable benefits when comparing the same activities in urban areas. Shinrin-yoku patients have lower blood pressures, lower pulse rates, and lower cortisol levels, a marker of physiological stress.
Recently a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine was done in Edinburgh, Scotland. They attached portable EEGs to the scalps of 12 healthy young adults. The researches sent the study participants out to do a 1.5 miles walk that wound through three sections of Edinburgh. They strolled through a urban pedestrian area with light traffic, then a park like green setting and finally a busy commercial area with lots of traffic and buildings. Analysis of the brain wave patterns showed measures of frustration, directed attention (they called engagement), mental arousal and meditativeness or calm.
Their results confirmed the idea that green spaces or vitamin G lessens brain fatigue. In the urban areas, the volunteer brains showed patterns of consistent arousal and frustration compared to the park areas where brain wave readings became more meditative. Dr. Jenny Roe, a lecturer at Herriot-Watts School of Built Environment, who supervised the study said, “natural environments engage the brain, but the attention needed is effortless”. Although it was a small pilot study, the findings were consistent and valuable. Going for a walk in a green space, or viewing a green space from your window is likely to have a restorative effect and help with stress recovery.
For those of you who meditate, try moving your meditation into a green setting and see if you notice a difference. If you are exercising indoors considering moving the activity to a view of a green space or changing up your exercise to include activity in a local park. As the weather improves, schedule lunch in a nearby green space during a typical workday as a stress reducer activity. In the beginning of the day, set an intention to spend some time in nature today gathering your own vitamin G, and see if you feel better. Green spaces or vitamin G can be a vital resource or stress reduction, better health and mental clarity.
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What a timely post just in time for Earth Day. When I meditate I am frequently looking out a window or porch screen at beautiful live oaks and a tidal creek. It is very relaxing. When I do a walking meditation I sometimes name the things I see and it keeps my attention focused and grounded. “Leaf…., sky….,bird….rock…etc. It is soothing, and keeps me mindful and grateful for the earth.
I think we sometimes overlook the power of naming of what we see or experience as part of checking in with earth. Thank you for sharing Dr. Trudi
Love the concept of Vitamin G- as Spring beckons those who live in northern latitudes outside, a good reminder to look out or up- and ‘be there’. My day always gets better after spying an eagle enjoying the skies.
Hi Janet,
Sadly, there is too little Vit G in the urban jungle where I live … but I do see some beautiful sunrises …
Say, “Hey” to David for me …
Hi Fred,
Even in an urban habitat, the sky beckons us to welcome another beautiful day into our lives.
When I saw the title about Vitamin G, I just had to read your post. I thought, “I know what the G stands for ~ God! As it turns out, it stands for ‘green’, as in nature. As a Christian, I believe that all of nature is made by God, including the blue sky and ever changing different hues of blues and greens of the ocean, lakes and rivers, plus the vibrant colors of all of the flowers that are now in bloom here where I live. I live in Santa Cruz, California, and am fortunate to be able to take daily walks to the ocean and along creeks, and a 20 minute drive to lakes in the mountains and the redwood forests. I am surrounded by Vitamin G! My husband and I drove down to Los Angeles to visit our elderly parents a week ago, and the town that they live in is more buildings than nature, however, they love gardening in their little yards, and they have beautiful paintings and framed photographs of nature throughout their homes. I believe we can all surround ourselves with Vitamin G, no matter where we live. Thanks so much for sharing Janet!
Hi Patti, I agree with you God and green are very much connected. The healing places that for centuries were sought out for a cure were often surrounded by mountains, streams, lakes, forests and meadows. God’s country.
Thank you sharing this wonderful article. No wonder you enjoyed the tai chi outside last Tuesday. Practicing tai chi /qigong outside is a wonderful experience. I practiced when in Sedona at red rim rock park facing cathedral rock. Was fabulous!
I studied homeopathy a couple of years ago and I remember having one lecture on depression and they mentioned in rehabs they often paint the rooms green as it gives the people there a sense of peace. Its amazing what nature can do to one. Also having a Dog for me has been is amazing stress relief .
Thanks for this post
Hi Peter, Earth colors indoors are very healing. Your dog, Vitamin D+ is a wonderful anti stressor. Perhaps I can do a future blog looking at the health and healing studies and the influence of animals. In Boston hospitals this week, comfort dogs were brought in to visit the victims. The power of animals is often unappreciated. If I were to change anything on the Duke wheel of health, it would be to add animals connections.
Hi Janet, a really interesting post which I loved.
I also grew up in a very outdoors environment leaving for school in the morning – home for lunch – out for sport and back at end of day (that aside from the extracurricular activities like boys brigade etc). Where we lived, there were pine forests for half the way to our house and then just bushland all around us – front, sides and back – and when I look back, it was such a healthy and stress free existence. Makes sense now – I had loads of vitamin G 🙂
Thank you for bringing this new vitamin into my life – I hadn’t heard of it before.
Hi Gary, Thanks for your comment. For our generation, we had the freedom to grow up in nature, but sadly that is changing as there is less green space and more technology that keeps children plugged indoors. There is an interesting book that connects the rise in obesity, depression and ADHD in today’s wired generation as a nature deficit. If you want to learn more, the name of the book is Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv