Rivers wash away,
Thoughts flow to a quieter place,
Nature heals the soul.
Image kindly provided by https://unsplash.com/@nineteen
Back in the nineties I lived in Norway for a while. I drove from Oslo to Stavanger one summer evening and felt overwhelmed as I drove through the most stunning landscape.
So, it never took much persuading to watch the Norwegian TV program Bergensbanen: Minutt for minutt (Bergen Railway: Minute by Minute) when it appeared on YouTube some years later. It was a massive success when it aired in 2009. It was a seven-hour-long real-time broadcast of the train journey from Oslo to Bergen, covering the stunning landscapes of Norway’s mountains, fjords, and countryside and it was one of the highest ratings of T.V. watching in Norway of the time.
I was thinking about it this week as spring begins to raise its head in Scotland. I bought a new pair of walking boots, but with a fatal cancer diagnosis, the mind is willing, but the body is week. Ten kilometres is my max these days.
However, most of the programmes I watch these days are hiking-in-nature videos. And speaking entirely for myself, I find them very therapeutic. So I did some research wondering if there is evidence of a secondary therapeutic lift from watching others walking the great trails around the world
And sure enough, scientific evidence that watching videos of nature, including hiking in natural landscapes, provides therapeutic benefits. Research in psychology and neuroscience has demonstrated several key benefits:
1. Reduces Stress and Anxiety
- A 2019 study in Scientific Reports found that watching nature videos can significantly lower cortisol levels, a hormone associated with stress. Participants who viewed nature scenes experienced reduced anxiety and reported feeling more relaxed.
2. Boosts Mood and Mental Well-being
- A study published in Frontiers in Psychology (2020) showed that virtual exposure to nature (such as hiking videos) improved mood and emotional well-being, similar to the benefits of physically being in nature.
3. Improves Cognitive Function and Attention
- The Attention Restoration Theory (Kaplan, 1995) suggests that exposure to natural environments—real or virtual—restores mental fatigue, enhances concentration, and boosts problem-solving abilities.
4. Lowers Blood Pressure and Heart Rate
- Research from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2017) found that watching nature videos can reduce heart rate and blood pressure, mimicking the physiological effects of real nature exposure.
5. Triggers Positive Emotions
- A 2021 study in Emotion found that awe-inspiring nature videos can enhance feelings of gratitude, connectedness, and happiness.