“That had quite a profound impact,” Richardson says. “It changed my relationship with nature.”
Richardson went on to create the Nature Connectedness Research Group at the University of Derby in 2013 and became one of the world’s leading researchers on nature connectedness—the idea that feeling emotionally tied to nature is distinct from simply spending time outdoors. His research suggests that connection doesn’t mean you have to log hours every day roaming among towering redwoods, misty peaks, and roaring waterfalls; it’s less about how long you spend outside than what you do while you’re there. The key is actually noticing your surroundings, he says, whether you’re in a corn field or at the corner of a city street.
“Nature disconnects you from the things you’ve been stressing about and puts you in the present moment,” says study co-author Anne Guerry, co-executive director of the Natural Capital Alliance at Stanford University. Her team evaluated 78 experimental studies including some 6,000 people. “That’s not just looking at associations, but actually doing experiments”—stronger evidence than the usual research linking leafy neighborhoods to better moods.
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She was also surprised to find that of all the types of green space her team looked at—lakes, street trees, gardens, parks, farmland—urban forests, or densely wooded areas within cities, stood out. Guerry suspects that’s because they offer a deeper sense of escape. Forests are, in many ways, “the absence of other things,” she says, including noise, pollution, and reminders of everyday stress.
Being present outdoors matters more than how long you stay
Richardson’s research suggests that how you spend your time in nature counts far more than how much of it you have. A short, attentive encounter can do more than a long, distracted one. “It’s what you do rather than how long you do it for,” he says.
That’s the thinking behind Richardson’s “Three Good Things in Nature” intervention. Each day, write down three good things you notice in the natural world: a bird singing, the breeze rippling through the trees, the smell of cream-white gardenias. His research has found that people who do this exercise daily for a week see improvements in how connected they feel to nature, their mental well-being, and mental health (for those with diagnosed conditions). The effects don’t evaporate when the week ends, either; they’re sustained for a month. “It’s good for nature and good for you,” he says.
How to spend your 15 minutes outdoors
There are five pathways that can deepen your bond with nature while improving your mental well-being, Richardson says. The first is engaging with the natural world through your senses: listening to, smelling, and touching what you encounter. “What we find is that most people don’t listen to birdsong,” he says. “That’s a simple but important thing to do.”
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Perhaps the most profound pathway is meaning: reflecting on what nature stirs in you and why. Humans have been at this for centuries, Richardson notes, through poetry and art devoted to the natural world. You might do it by journaling or even writing a poem of your own.
None of this demands a grand gesture. You don’t need a national park or a free weekend—just somewhere to look. Many people, Guerry points out, have green space within a 10-minute walk of home, and even a single tree outside a window counts. “Our brains are wired to appreciate nature,” she says. “Seeing a tree, even if it’s from the window of your apartment building, is good for your brain.”
“Nature doesn’t have an advertising agency, and it doesn’t have a marketing team,” he says—which means the noticing is up to us.
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