The Impact of Mindful Meditation in Nature on Self-Nature Interconnectedness

Unsworth, Sara J.; Palicki, Sean-Kelly; Lustig, Jim

doi:10.1007/s12671-016-0542-8

Cited by 58 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Conversely, meditation practice is a more active approach where one, among other things, seeks to eliminate effortful participation in thought (Kaplan, 2001). Interestingly, a study among undergraduates participating in an outdoor guiding program showed an increase in mindfulness scores, even without the practice of meditation (Unsworth, Palicki, & Lustig, 2016). This, and our findings, seem to be in line with the suggestion from Kaplan (2001) that given an appropriate restorative environment, a relatively unskilled individual could do something approximating meditation, with little mental effort or no meditation training.…”

Section: Sub-theme 2: Effects On Focus and Attentionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Significance of nature in a clinical setting and its perceived therapeutic value from patients’ perspective

Dybvik

Sundsford

Wang

et al. 2018

European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling

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The effect that nature can have on the development of mental health and the implications for recovery is important for understanding the impact nature has on humans, as well as delineating possible alternative venues for treating psychological problems. The present qualitative study examined how individuals understand the significance of nature in relation to their mental health and treatment. Twelve participants in residential treatment for varying nonpsychotic mental health issues were interviewed about previous and present experiences with nature and the meaning these experiences have for them in recovery. Thematic analysis resulted in the creation of two main themes: «being human in nature» which included three sub-themes "experience of nature", "effects on focus and attention", and "change and the transformative in nature", and «nature, the patient and treatment» with two sub-themes "nature as therapy" and "nature and therapy". Participants describe a feeling of coming closer to themselves, to their problems and existential meanings when in nature. In addition, they report being able to make new relational experiences with other patients, and that some experiences in nature can function as symbolic tools in therapy. The study underlines the complex interrelationships between nature and humans and points to new lines for future research.

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Section: Sub-theme 2: Effects On Focus and Attentionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Significance of nature in a clinical setting and its perceived therapeutic value from patients’ perspective

Dybvik

Sundsford

Wang

et al. 2018

European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Further research could include more non-educational interventions that look at the interaction between play or mindfulness, and nature connection (such as ones focused on adults, see Unsworth et al, 2016). Finally, being clear about our intention to facilitate nature connection in children and differentiating between simply providing children with opportunities to be in nature and fostering and nurturing connectedness could further help to identify and highlight which activities are most suited to increasing a child's connection to the natural world.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Nature Connection in Children: A Mini Review of Interventions

Barrable

Booth

2020

Front. Psychol.

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Half of the world's population live in the urban environment. Lifestyle changes in the 20th century have led to spending more time indoors and less in nature. Due to safety concerns, longer hours in formal education, as well as lack of suitable outdoor environments, children in particular have been found to spend very little time outdoors. We have an opportunity, both timely and unique to have our children (re)connect with nature. Nature connection is a subjective state and trait that encompasses affective, cognitive, and experiential aspects in addition to being positively associated with wellbeing, and strong predictor of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. This minireview brings together recent studies that report on interventions to increase nature connection in children. Fourteen studies were identified through electronic searches of Web of Science, Scopus, PsychInfo, ERIC, and Google Scholar. The review aims to offer an overview of the interventions identified, provide a snapshot of the current state of the literature, briefly present themes and trends in the studies identified in relation to nature connection in young people, and propose potential guidelines for future work.

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“…While engagement in a mindfulness exercise has been discovered to improve CWN scores (Aspy and Proeve 2017), spending time in nature also showed a positive correlation with levels of CWN (Hamann and Ivtzan 2016). The strongest boost in CWN was found when nature experience was combined with mindfulness meditation (Unsworth et al 2016;Djernis et al 2019). In a meta-analysis of nature-based mindfulness trainings, Djernis et al 2019showed that the effect sizes for increases in CWN were larger when the mindfulness interventions had been implemented in wild nature as opposed to cultured green spaces.…”

Section: Connectedness With Naturementioning

confidence: 99%

The Way Forward in Mindfulness and Sustainability: a Critical Review and Research Agenda

Thiermann

Sheate

2020

J Cogn Enhanc

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The ecological crisis demands new strategies to rapidly transform our society into a more sustainable one. A growing amount of research points towards the potential of mindfulness to help transform people's motivations for sustainability. This article reviews 30 years of research in mindfulness and sustainability and disentangles theoretical knowledge from empirical evidence. We identified six leading theoretical links between mindfulness and sustainability which find backing in empirical work: reduced automaticity, enhanced health and subjective well-being, greater connectedness with nature, improved pro-sociality, recognition of intrinsic values and openness to new experiences. Many of the studies involve considerable methodological caveats, most importantly a lack of mindfulness practice indicators and environmental impact measures. To reach the point where policy makers could embrace mindfulness-based policies to promote societal well-being and sustainability, the research must go beyond the present focus on correlative research. The proof of causality posits the greatest challenge for the next decade of research. Inspired by principles from policy evaluation, we propose a research agenda that offers direction for collaborative efforts and innovative interdisciplinary study designs in a logical model: (how) does the practice of mindfulness contribute to individual behaviour change and (how) does this individual change translate into societal change?

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The Impact of Mindful Meditation in Nature on Self-Nature Interconnectedness

Cited by 58 publications

References 36 publications

Significance of nature in a clinical setting and its perceived therapeutic value from patients’ perspective

Significance of nature in a clinical setting and its perceived therapeutic value from patients’ perspective

Increasing Nature Connection in Children: A Mini Review of Interventions

The Way Forward in Mindfulness and Sustainability: a Critical Review and Research Agenda

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