Nature walk: a green-space walk for body and mood

A nature walk is a plain, unhurried walk through a park, woods, riverside or coast, with your attention on what is around you rather than on your phone. It asks for about 20 to 40 minutes at a time and roughly two hours across the week. You need no special gear and no fitness goal, just a nearby patch of green or blue space.

Why people do it

Most people take up walking in nature to feel calmer, clear their heads or get some gentle energy back during a long week. Some do it to feel more connected to the living world around them. The practice has no single founder. It comes from a growing body of research on nature and health.

Researchers offer three main explanations for the benefits of walking in nature. One is that humans have an evolved affinity for nature, often called biophilia. Another is that natural settings reduce stress. The third is that they let tired attention recover.

A nature walk engages several parts of you at once. The body gets steady, low-strain movement, and you can find more on that side of things in the Body hub. The mind gets a break that may help with mood and attention, a link explored further in the guide to exercise and mental clarity. For the soul, many walkers describe a sense of belonging to something larger, and research summaries have linked feeling connected to nature with a sense of meaning.

What the evidence says

The research behind nature walks is real but still developing. A 2019 study of nearly 20,000 people in England in Scientific Reports found that people were more likely to report good health or high well-being once they spent about 120 minutes a week in nature, with benefits peaking at 200 to 300 minutes. It made no difference whether that time came in one visit or several. That study was correlational and relied on self-report, so it cannot show that nature caused the difference, and its authors called intervention studies a “critical next step.” A 2015 experiment in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers stronger support for one effect. A 90-minute walk in a natural setting reduced self-reported rumination and activity in a brain area linked to it, while an urban walk did not. The American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology summarizes research linking nature with better attention, lower stress, better mood and more cooperation. It also notes that real nature works better than nature videos.

Variations

• Blue-space walk. Walk along a coast, lake or river. Water settings may be slightly more restorative than green ones, so this suits anyone who lives near water.
• Short walks that add up. Take several brief park walks across the week instead of one long outing. This suits busy days, and the weekly total is what the research tracked.
• Forest-bathing walk. Slow right down and focus on your senses: smell, sound, texture and light. The forest bathing practice explains this gentler, more immersive style.
• Walking meditation segment. Partway through the walk, slow your pace for a few minutes and pay close attention to each step and breath before carrying on. This suits people who already meditate or want a quieter middle to the walk.

Common mistakes

• Waiting for real wilderness. A local park counts. Use whatever nature is close, and look for spots with trees, plants and wildlife rather than bare lawn.
• Walking with your eyes on the phone. Calls, scrolling and podcasts pull your attention away from your surroundings. Keep the phone in your pocket and look and listen instead.
• Going too hard too soon. If you are new to exercise, a brisk power walk can leave you sore and put off. Start at a comfortable pace and lengthen the walk gradually.
• Judging it by one walk. A single outing may not shift your mood. The research looked at time across a week, so give it a few weeks of regular walks before deciding.

If you have a heart or lung condition, check with your clinician before you start, then build up slowly and follow their advice.