Research suggests that our minds benefit from our encounters with aspects of nature – be it cold water and calming scents, or vivid colours and cert

‘Nature is free, and the best kind of medicine’: is this the perfect walk for improving mental health?

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2024-10-07 13:30:05

Research suggests that our minds benefit from our encounters with aspects of nature – be it cold water and calming scents, or vivid colours and certain types of landscape – and Kielderhead ticks all the boxes

T here’s an old saying that the perfect walk has “something to see, somewhere to pee, and somewhere to get a cup of tea”. While those things do indeed make for a respectable hike, scientists have discovered that aspects of nature will turn a good walk into a great one, in intriguing ways.

Over recent years, it has become apparent that interacting with the great outdoors does wonders for our health, not only because it keeps our bodies physically fit but our brains, too. Last year, a long-term study of 2.3 million people in Wales revealed that the closer you live to nature, the lower your chances of having a mental health condition. “If people interacted with nature every day, it would be a gamechanger in terms of mental health,” says Michele Antonelli, a doctor at the Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale (local health authority) for Reggio Emilia in Italy.

It has been found that certain natural elements – particular flowers, landscapes and scents – can boost the brain more than others. Using these new insights, I scoured the UK to find the ultimate mental health walk. It is around 24km (15 miles), needs no orienteering skills and begins at 8.15am in Kielderhead national nature reserve, three miles from the Scottish border near Kielder, one of the most remote villages in England.