The Senses of Nature
In recent days it became a fact that more and more people are getting stressed out and having to deal with mental disorder due to our changing life style that focuses on work. Eventually, most people spend thousands of dollars yearly on therapy and medication, hoping for a good night sleep and a relaxed weekend. However, people forgot that humans were made to live in nature and that being away from it has its toll on our psychology. A recent study done in japan concluded that being in nature (forest therapy) without any distraction can substantially reduce stress hormone, nerve activity, heart rate, and blood pressure.
Personally, I experience nature through short walks, hikes, and activities. When I explored the arboretum, my senses went crazy where I could feel each and every one of them reacting to its surroundings. In addition to the senses my brain was linking each of these encounters to a memory from the past. Being raised in a house with a big garden, a lot of my childhood memories revolved around nature. The smell of the freshly cut grass calmed me down and reminded of my father teaching me how to cut grass. The sight of the murky water in the pond reflecting the colors of the sky gave me a sense of purity and simplicity. Touching the smooth surfaces of stone against the roughness of the pine tree bark created a sense of how complicated nature is. Just sitting around and focusing made me realize many soothing sounds from tweeting birds, shaking trees, bouncing frogs, and falling water droplets. I did even use my taste buds by licking flowers and realizing how the sweetness of the nectar came in contrast with sourness of the pollens.
Finally, It goes without saying that this adventure changed the way that I look at nature and created a new perspective to observe and analyze the experiences and that every encounter effected my brain and my feelings differently.