Ecotherapy
Four Key Principles describing why people enjoy green exercise activities:
| Principles | Subcategories | Descriptors |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Natural and social connections | Social | Being with friends and family, providing companionship and social interaction, creating collective identity, making new friends, conviviality. |
| Animals and Wildlife | Observing wild animals in their natural environment (e.g. Bird watching). | |
| Memories and Knowledge | Visiting special places where memories and stories are evoked and recalled (childhood associations), story-telling, personal identity, links to myths, stimulation of the imagination, ecological literacy. | |
| Spiritual | Scale and longevity of nature in contrast to humans, transformative capacity of green nature, oneness with nature. | |
| 2. Sensory Stimulation | Colours and Sounds | Diverse colours of nature and landscapes, views of landscapes, beauty of scenery, bird-song and sounds of other animals, light (especially sunrise/sunset), visual and aesthetic appreciation of landscapes. |
| Fresh Air | Smell and other senses, being outdoors, exposure to all types of weather, changing seasons, a contrast to indoor and city life, escape from urban pollution. | |
| Excitement | Adrenaline rush, exhilaration, fun arising from a physical activity or experience of risk, sense of adventure. | |
| 3. Activity | Manual Tasks | learning a skill and completing a manual task (e.g. conservation activity), challenging, fulfilling and rewarding, sense of achievement, leading to a sense of worth and value. |
| Physical Activity | Enjoyment of the activity itself and the physical and mental health benefits associated with it, making people feel good, more energetic, less lethargic. | |
| 4. Escape | Escape from modern life | Getting away from modern life and relaxing (as a contrast), time alone or with family, a time to think and clear the head, peace and quiet, tranquility and freedom, privacy, escape from pressure, stress and the 'rat-race', recharging batteries. |
|
Adapted from Mind publication: Ecotherapy - The green agenda for mental health. |
||
Home
