#MentalHealth4SMEs: Get out in nature

In this series or articles, it was discussed that poor mental health can and will have a drastic effect on a business. It was also established that a cornerstone of good mental health is enough sleep, good nutrition and physical exercise.

This week we take a look at one of those under-rated keys to positive mental health...Nature.

Trees and plants release chemicals called phytoncides, whose purpose is to protect the trees and plants. Studies have shown that when we breathe them in they have positive impacts on our immune systems.

Breathe in the aromas in a forest, and what you are smelling is phytoncides, and what you’re doing is ‘forest bathing’.

Your business and employees depend on your mental health and as a cornerstone of good mental health it is important to connect with nature. Multiple studies have found that time in green and blue space, i.e., plants and trees, and open spaces, is linked with reduced anxiety and depression.

Our tip

Make time to get out there - in nature - whether it's a forest or the park nearby that you can go to. If you live at the coast or near a body of water, try to spend some time on the shores, out in the open. If you can’t get outside at the moment, find a nature view of some sort from a window where the sun comes in and spend some time imagining you were there.

Daryl Hannah, known for her role as Elle Driver in Kill Bill loves trees. She proved she can be just as fierce as the menacing character as she can in real life, especially when it comes to issues close to her heart.

For one thing, she has been arrested no fewer than three times in the name of the environment. First for a 23-day tree sit-in in 2006; then again in 2009 for protesting against mountaintop mining in West Virginia; and finally, for joining demonstrations against the Keystone oil pipeline in front of the White House last year.