Nature-Based Relaxation Videos and Their Effect on Heart Rate Variability

Abstract

Growing evidence suggests that natural environments – whether in outdoor or indoor settings – foster psychological health and physiological relaxation, indicated by increased wellbeing, reduced stress levels, and increased parasympathetic activity. Greater insight into differential psychological aspects modulating psychophysiological responses to nature-based relaxation videos could help understand modes of action and develop personalized relaxation interventions. We investigated heart rate variability (HRV) as an indicator of autonomic regulation, specifically parasympathetic activity, in response to a 10-min video intervention in two consecutive studies as well as heart rate (HR). We hypothesized that a nature-based relaxation video elicits HRV increase and HR decrease, with response magnitude being affected by aspects of early life adversity (conceptualized as low parental care and high overprotection/constraint) and trait mindfulness. In Study 1, N = 60 participants (52% female, agemean = 23.92 ± 3.13 years, agerange = 18–34 years) watched a relaxation video intervention depicting different natural scenery. We analyzed changes in HR and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) as a standard HRV measure, both based on 3-min segments from the experimental session, in multiple growth curve models. We found a decrease in HR and increase of RSA during the video intervention. Higher paternal care and lower trait mindfulness observing skills (assessed via questionnaires) were associated with higher RSA values before but not during video exposure. In Study 2, N = 90 participants (50% female, agemean = 22.63 ± 4.57 years, agerange = 18–49 years) were assigned to three video conditions: natural scenery from Study 1, meditation video, or short clip from “The Lord of the Rings.” Again, HR decreased, and RSA increased during video segments, yet without expected group differences across different video types. We found higher parental care and lower parental overprotection to predict higher RSA at different times during the experiment. Interestingly, lower paternal overprotection predicted overall higher RSA. These results suggest a generic relaxation effect of video interventions on autonomic regulation that we discuss in light of different theories mapping restorative effects of natural environments. Further, psychological characteristics like aspects of early life adversity and trait mindfulness could contribute to individual differences in autonomic regulation. This study contributes to a better understanding of autonomic and psychological responses to relaxation videos.

Interactions with Nature, Good for the Mind and Body: A Narrative Review

“…Multiple researchers have examined the impact of viewing nature on physical health as stress not only exhibits itself psychologically but also physically (e.g., sympathetic nervous activity dominance, greater heart rate and blood pressure, and increased alpha amylase and cortisol). In experimental studies, researchers have measured changes in physiology before and after indirectly exposing participants to nature through views of nature [ 65 , 66 ], virtual reality [ 15 , 53 , 67 , 68 ], videos [ 57 , 69 ], and sounds [ 17 , 68 ]. In several studies, after being indirectly exposed to nature, participants experienced greater parasympathetic nervous system dominance [ 65 , 66 , 68 ], heart rate variability [ 65 , 69 ], and decreased heart rate [ 15 , 53 , 66 , 68 , 69 ], systolic and diastolic blood pressure [ 17 , 53 , 67 ], skin conductance [ 53 , 65 ], pain [ 57 ], and cortisol [ 53 ].…”

“…In experimental studies, researchers have measured changes in physiology before and after indirectly exposing participants to nature through views of nature [ 65 , 66 ], virtual reality [ 15 , 53 , 67 , 68 ], videos [ 57 , 69 ], and sounds [ 17 , 68 ]. In several studies, after being indirectly exposed to nature, participants experienced greater parasympathetic nervous system dominance [ 65 , 66 , 68 ], heart rate variability [ 65 , 69 ], and decreased heart rate [ 15 , 53 , 66 , 68 , 69 ], systolic and diastolic blood pressure [ 17 , 53 , 67 ], skin conductance [ 53 , 65 ], pain [ 57 ], and cortisol [ 53 ]. In one study, after five minutes of viewing nature using virtual reality, the alpha amylase concentration decreased by 1.2 ng/mL and diastolic blood pressure by 4.6 mmHg [ 53 ].…”

Effects of brief mindfulness training on smoking cue-reactivity in tobacco use disorder: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…Control group will be assigned to relaxation training, conducted at the same time each day as the experimental group during the 7-day period of intervention. The training will include watching documentaries of natural scenery without any other intervention, for which has been suggested a generic relaxation effect of video interventions on autonomic regulation [ 62 , 63 ]. The audio guidance and learning materials for both groups will be uploaded to the group chats separately, participants can practice at any time after the intervention period.…”

“…It is a helpful aid in becoming more mindful of our body, behaviour and emotion on a daily basis. The following is the adapted instruction of practicing STOP in confronting smoking cessation based on that developed by Liao [ 63 ]:…”

An investigation of cardiac vagal tone over time and its relation to vigilance performance: a growth curve modeling approach

“…Overall, we set out to quantify the individual differences of cardiac vagal tone trends. Previous research found individual differences in HRV measures over time were due to external task demands and features (Smolders et al, 2012 ; Obradović and Finch, 2017 ; Blanck et al, 2019 ; Smith et al, 2019 ; Schwarck et al, 2021 ; Spangler et al, 2021 ; Tung et al, 2021 ; Benz et al, 2022 ), even with very low birth weight neonates (Padhye et al, 2009 ). Similarly, prior research has shown differences in autonomic activity in response to emotional stimuli when investigated as longitudinal trajectories—a feature not previously found when the autonomic activity was averaged across trials (e.g., Golland et al, 2014 ; Pasquini et al, 2022 ).…”