Why embracing nature could change your life

The evidence is in - nature is good for your health. Walk, swim, play or just be, and your body and soul will thank you for it. Villa World communities make it easy to live a natural life.

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The evidence is in - nature is good for your health. Walk, swim, play or just be, and your body and soul will thank you for it. Villa World communities make it easy to live a natural life.

In Japan, they call it ‘forest bathing’ – getting outside and just being amongst nature.

Feeling the breeze; listening to the birds … just thinking about it is relaxing.

In our increasingly urbanised society, it’s possible to go weeks without encountering natural surroundings in any meaningful way, and studies are now revealing that living this way is not doing us any good.

Australian and UK environmental scientists have found that people who visit parks for 30 minutes or more each week are much less likely to have high blood pressure or poor mental health than those who don’t.

The research, conducted by the University of Queensland and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions in 2016, suggested people might need a minimum “dose of nature” for their overall wellbeing with parks offering health benefits including reduced risks of developing heart disease, stress, anxiety and depression.

For parents, the evidence is particularly compelling, and could influence choices about where to buy a family home – in the city or in an environment surrounded by nature.

Hyahno Moser, program manager for Nature Play QLD, which provides forest school training for teachers, says outdoor play is just as important as good nutrition for growing happy and healthy kids. It’s also a powerful way to strengthen family bonds.

“The health benefits for all family members are strong, from increased physical activity, increased social connection, reducing stress and increased mental health,” he says.

“The benefits gifted to kids from outdoor play cover all areas of childhood development and general wellbeing.”

Modern lifestyles, busy schedules and the demands of technology, especially smartphones and their relentless notifications and distractions, are disconnecting us from the things that truly nourish us.  

“Today’s families are facing issues no other generation of families have had to face,” Hyahno says.

“Grown-ups are time poor, facing economic pressure, both parents are working, marinated in fear, judged by other parents and feel the need to give their children every opportunity. We are drowning our kids in our love and our fears. For children to go outside daily to play, the main barrier is anxious parents and over-structured lives.

“Parental fear, anxieties of traffic, stranger danger and just generally not knowing their neighbourhoods and communities are large reducers of children’s freedoms and ability to have an outdoor childhood. Also children are now enrolled in many extracurricular activities which require grown-ups to organise and transport them to, usually before and after school.

Living away from congested inner-city suburbs is one way that families can increase their connection with nature. Some of Queensland’s newer master-planned communities feature extensive outdoor spaces and infrastructure to respond to this need.

Gary Hunter, Villa World senior development manager at Villa World, says that providing spaces for residents to get active outside is key to the company’s ethos and an important part of encouraging a genuine community to develop.

“Communal gardens are a prime example of where residents can come together and plant and harvest their own produce. It really is the epitome of community spirit.

“This was something that was typically delivered in body corporate communities in the past, but Villa World has worked with councils to deliver these communal gardens in subdivisions and has shown the true fruits of this approach to the community,” he says.

Villa World’s designers draw inspiration from the existing topography and local amenity of each project to enhance the experience of the natural environment.

At Covella at Greenbank, the existing riparian corridors present opportunities to engage residents with the natural surrounds by way of parks, fitness stations, picnic shelters, basketball hoops, bikeways and boardwalks.

The existing Lavelle Lagoon sports field is also being expanded to deliver more active space for residents and the greater community to enjoy.

“People are increasingly aware of the food they consume and there is definitely more of us who aspire to become more active in our day-to-day lives. Modern homes in emerging areas are enriched by the open spaces that master-planned communities can offer,” Gary says.

Nature Play QLD’s 5 main benefits of spending time outdoors and what to do:

1. Contributes to a healthy and balanced lifestyle for children in a highly screen-based world
2. Increased physical activity and mental health
3. Increased social connection and reduced isolation
4. Increased community interest and citizenship
5. Establishes healthy lifestyle habits that children will carry with them through their lives

“There is no shortage of incredible outdoor opportunities for families in Queensland,” Hyahno says. “My advice is to adopt the old adage ‘start locally’. Have no plan and go outdoors regularly. Just walk with your kids. First in your backyards, then your front yards and then journey out into the neighbourhood.

“Familiarising our children with their neighbourhoods increases their interest in their local area, as well as acts as an icebreaker with neighbours and ultimately creates great bonding moments between us grown-ups and our children.”

Originally published as Why embracing nature could change your life