Recently, during a support meeting I facilitate, a participant mentioned something that caught my attention: the idea that spending three days immersed in nature may have restorative benefits for our minds and bodies. I had heard about this before. Somewhere along the way, I had even read about some of the research behind it. And like so many things we learn, it wasn’t at the top of my awareness anymore.
That brief mention brought it back and made me curious enough to revisit the idea and start reading the research again. What began with the idea of spending three days in nature led me to questions I hadn’t originally planned to explore.
- What does the research actually tell us about spending time in nature and our mental health?
- Does it have to be three days?
- What if someone has an afternoon, 20 minutes, 10 minutes, or even five?
- Does it matter if we live in a city?
- And what happens when summer ends and everything isn’t green anymore?
That curiosity eventually inspired this article.
Before I share what I found, I want to acknowledge something important about support meetings. I am grateful for the people who are willing to share their experiences, thoughts, questions, and vulnerabilities. Sometimes we worry that we don’t have the “right” answer. We may think someone else already knows what we’re about to say, or wonder whether our contribution is important enough to share.
This experience reminded me why I value coming into meetings with curiosity. I don’t know what I don’t know. And even something I do know may not be at the top of my awareness when I need it. One comment can remind us. One person’s perspective can make us curious. One thought can lead us somewhere new. And something shared in a meeting may ripple outward in ways the person who shared it could never have anticipated the beautiful impact it made.
Take What We Learn and Share It With the World
There is something we often say in support spaces: take what you learn and share it with the world. That stayed with me as I researched this topic. We can protect the privacy of the people who share while still carrying the learning forward. The person’s identity and personal information stay in the room. The learning gets to travel.
The more I read about the potential benefits of spending time in nature, the more I felt this was worthy of sharing.
What Is the Three-Day Effect?
You may have heard of the “Three-Day Effect,” an idea associated with research into what may happen when people spend extended periods immersed in nature and disconnected from many of the demands and distractions of everyday life. The idea has sometimes been popularized online as a “brain reset” or even a “cellular reset.” Those descriptions make attention-grabbing headlines, and the science is more nuanced.
Research into nature immersion has found associations with changes in stress, attention, mood, well-being, creativity, and some measures of physical health. Researchers have also explored what may happen to our attention when we step away from the constant demands of screens, notifications, work, traffic, and everyday responsibilities and spend extended time in natural surroundings.
I found the research around longer periods of nature immersion fascinating. And then another question became even more interesting to me: What if I don’t have three days?
You Don’t Need the Perfect Wilderness Retreat
I haven’t been camping in many years. Truthfully, I don’t know when I’ll go camping again. So am I going to wait until I can arrange the perfect three-day wilderness experience before intentionally spending more time in nature? No. And this is where the research became especially encouraging to me.
Spending time in nature doesn’t necessarily require mountains, tents, hiking boots, or sleeping beneath the stars. Researchers have studied people’s experiences in parks, gardens, green spaces, wooded areas, and other natural environments, including those available to people living in cities.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has highlighted research linking exposure to green spaces with mental restoration, increased positive emotions, decreased anxiety and rumination, and other physical and mental health benefits. Heather Eliassen, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard, explained that time outdoors can provide stimulation of our different senses while also offering a break from the typical overstimulation of urban environments. That made me think differently about what “spending time in nature” can actually look like.
Don’t Let Perfection Become the Enemy of Good
It doesn’t have to be perfect to be worthwhile. A 2019 study published in Scientific Reports examined data from nearly 20,000 people in England. Researchers found that people who reported spending at least 120 minutes in nature during the previous week were more likely to report good health and high well-being. One of the things I found particularly interesting was that those 120 minutes didn’t have to happen all at once. They could be accumulated through shorter periods throughout the week.
It is important to understand what this research does and doesn’t tell us. The study found an association. It did not prove that exactly 120 minutes in nature causes better health, and the researchers themselves cautioned against treating two hours as a magic prescription. Still, it raises an interesting possibility: What if we intentionally made a little more room for nature in our lives?
Then I found research suggesting that even shorter periods may be meaningful. A Cornell University review focusing on college-age participants found that as little as 10 minutes sitting or walking in a natural setting could be associated with improvements in mood and focus, as well as changes in physiological measures such as heart rate and blood pressure.
University of Utah Health has also highlighted research suggesting that small amounts of time outdoors may support mental health. Their recommendations include things that are surprisingly ordinary: drinking your morning coffee outside, reading outdoors, gardening, taking an outdoor break, walking through a neighborhood or park, watering plants, or sitting outside. No camping equipment required.
What If You Only Have a Few Minutes?
Maybe you have three days and want to experience a deeper nature immersion while substantially reducing technology and the distractions of everyday life. Maybe you have 24 hours and can spend a night somewhere quieter. Maybe you have an afternoon and can visit a beach, lake, park, trail, garden, or another green space. Maybe you want to experiment with accumulating more time outdoors throughout your week. Maybe you have 20 minutes. Maybe you have 10. And maybe today you have five.
Five minutes doesn’t become worthless because a particular research study examined ten. Step outside. Feel the air. Look at the sky. Listen for a bird. Notice a tree. Drink your coffee outside. Water your plants. Sit somewhere and give yourself permission not to accomplish anything for a few minutes.
Start where you are. This isn’t about turning nature into another item on our list of things we’re supposed to be doing perfectly. It’s about becoming curious about what is available to us.
Nature Doesn’t Disappear When the Leaves Do
As I thought about incorporating more time in nature into my own life, another question occurred to me: What happens when the seasons change?
Much of the research I found uses the term “green space” and has examined environments with trees, plants, parks, forests, and other vegetation. So what happens when the leaves fall? Does spending time in nature still “count” during fall and winter?
The honest answer is that we know more about the benefits of green spaces and nature exposure generally than we do about whether those benefits are exactly the same in every season. And I think that’s important to say. I don’t want to create an expectation that spending a certain number of minutes outside will produce a particular result for every person, in every environment, during every season. That’s not what the research tells us.
Nature doesn’t disappear when the leaves do.
A tree without its leaves is still a tree. There is still sky, natural light, water, birds, wind, snow, changing temperatures, and an entire natural world around us. At the same time, I don’t want to promise that a winter walk among bare trees produces exactly the same effects researchers have observed in lush green spaces.
Perhaps this is another opportunity to replace expectation with curiosity. What do you notice? How do you feel after spending a little intentional time outside? Does sitting near the water feel different from sitting indoors? Does a walk among autumn leaves affect you differently than a winter walk? There doesn’t have to be a particular outcome. We’re experimenting, noticing, and learning what supports us.
Finding Nature in Every Season
Connecting with nature can look different depending on the season, where we live, our mobility, the weather, and what is realistically available to us. We don’t have to wait for the perfect temperature or the perfect outdoor activity.
Fall
Take a short walk and notice the changing colors. Sit outside with a warm cup of coffee or tea. Visit a local park, trail, garden, farm, or waterfront. Listen to leaves beneath your feet. Notice the changing light or the cooler air. You could even choose one tree near your home and begin watching how it changes throughout the seasons.
Winter
Winter may require a little more creativity, especially for those of us living in colder climates. When conditions are safe, bundle up and take a brief walk. Watch snow falling from a covered porch or window. Notice bare tree branches against the sky. Listen to the quiet after snowfall. Visit a park or waterfront for a few minutes. Stand outside with a warm drink and feel the cold air.
On days when weather, mobility, health, or safety make going outside difficult, we can bring some elements of nature closer to us. Sit near a window and watch the sky. Care for an indoor plant. Listen to birds or other nature sounds. Open the blinds and notice the natural light. University of Utah Health has even discussed research suggesting that indoor plants, nature imagery, and nature sounds may offer some well-being benefits. It may not be the same experience as walking through a forest, and it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
Spring
Spring gives us an opportunity to notice things beginning again. Look for the first buds on the trees. Notice which flowers appear first. Listen for birds. Walk through a garden or park. Plant something, even if it’s one herb in a pot. Sit outside during a light spring rain from somewhere covered. Take your morning coffee outside as the weather begins to warm. If you chose that one tree in the fall, notice it again. What has changed?
Summer
Summer may give us more opportunities to spend longer periods outside, and it doesn’t have to mean an elaborate vacation. Have breakfast outside. Read beneath a tree. Visit a beach or sit near the water. Garden. Walk in the early morning or evening when temperatures are more comfortable. Have a picnic. Sit outside and listen to the sounds around you. Put your phone away for a little while and watch the sky change as evening approaches.
If extreme heat makes being outside unsafe or uncomfortable, choose cooler parts of the day or enjoy nature from a shaded or indoor location.
Let the Seasons Change the Experience
We don’t have to experience nature the same way throughout the year. Maybe that’s part of the invitation. The tree we sit beneath in July may look completely different in October, January, and April. The waterfront may sound different. The air feels different. The birds change. The light changes. We change, too.
What if, instead of waiting for the “best” season to spend time in nature, we became curious about what each season has to offer? You don’t need three days in the wilderness. You don’t need perfect weather. You don’t even need summer. Start with the season you’re in, the time you have, and what is available to you.
Why Might Nature Give Our Minds a Break?
One concept I encountered in the research is called “soft fascination.” Think about watching leaves moving in the wind, water moving along a shoreline, clouds passing overhead, snow falling, or birds moving from one branch to another. These things can gently capture our attention without demanding the kind of concentrated effort required by emails, traffic, work, social media, news, and constant notifications.
Researchers have also explored the relationship between spending time in nature and rumination, those repetitive thought loops that can keep bringing our minds back to the same worries. In one study, participants who took a 90-minute walk in a natural environment reported lower levels of rumination and showed reduced activity in a brain region associated with repetitive negative thinking compared with participants who walked in a high-traffic urban environment.
That doesn’t mean a walk makes our problems disappear. Our circumstances may still be there when we return. The person we love may still be struggling. The uncertainty may still exist. And perhaps we return having given our attention a different place to land for a little while.
Another Road to Explore
One of the things I value about recovery and self-care is recognizing that there isn’t only one road. Different people need different things at different times in their lives. Some people use medication as part of their care. Some may work with their health care providers to make changes to medication. Others may not use medication at all. Some people connect with therapy, support meetings, movement, mindfulness, spirituality, creative activities, community, time in nature, or a combination of different supports.
Spending time in nature isn’t a replacement for needed medical or mental health care, and it doesn’t have to compete with any of those things. It can be another road to explore, another tool in our tool belt, and another way of asking, “What supports me?”
There are many roads to self-care, and there can be many roads that support someone’s recovery journey.
Meeting Our Loved Ones With an Invitation
This also made me think about how we might share this with someone we love. Rather than telling someone what they should do, what if we offered an invitation? “Would you like to come outside with me?” “Would you like to take a walk?” “Want to have our coffee outside today?” “Would you like to go sit by the water for a little while?”
There doesn’t have to be an agenda attached to the invitation. We don’t have to call it treatment. We don’t have to convince someone that it’s going to make them feel better. We can become curious together. And if our loved one doesn’t want to come, we can still choose to go ourselves.
That brings me back to one of my favorite tools: the hula hoop. I can offer the invitation. Whether another person accepts it is outside my hula hoop. My decision to go is inside it. If my loved one says yes, perhaps we get to experience that time together. If the answer is no, I can still choose something that may support my own well-being.
My Own Experiment
I want to be clear that I’m not writing this from a tent somewhere deep in the wilderness. As I mentioned earlier, I haven’t been camping in years, and I don’t know when my next camping trip will happen. I’m not going to wait for it.
I’m feeling excited about experimenting with some of the smaller things I uncovered while researching this article and seeing what I notice in my own life. Maybe I’ll take my coffee outside. Maybe I’ll intentionally put my phone away and spend some time noticing what’s around me. Maybe I’ll find a green space and sit without feeling that I need to turn the experience into exercise or accomplish something while I’m there.
And I’m going to invite my loved one to come along and see if they’d like to experiment with me. Invite is the important word.
I’m not trying to control the outcome. I’m offering an opportunity for connection and allowing the other person to choose. So I invite you to become curious too. Not to make spending time outdoors another thing you “should” be doing, another box to check, or another standard against which to measure yourself.
Think of it as an experiment. What happens if you intentionally spend a little more time in nature? What do you notice?
And It Started With One Comment
As I finished researching this article, I found myself thinking again about the comment I heard during that meeting. The person who shared it may never know where that brief mention led. It brought something I had previously learned back into my awareness. It sparked my curiosity. That curiosity led me back to the research. I learned things I didn’t know. It inspired me to experiment with some of these ideas in my own life. And ultimately, it inspired this article.
That is one of the things I value about support meetings. We can take what we learn with us while respecting the privacy of the people who share it. Take what we learn and share it with the world.
So, to those who are willing to share in support spaces, especially when you aren’t certain whether you have the perfect words, thank you. You may never know how something you say helps another person think differently, remember something they had forgotten, become curious, or take one small step.
Your contribution doesn’t have to be perfect to have value. Neither does mine. Neither does our self-care. And neither does our time in nature.
Don’t let perfection become the enemy of good. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be worthwhile.
Sometimes ten minutes, one tree, one conversation, or one person’s words can be enough to make us curious about what might happen next.
Working With Me
A Family Support Coach can be a guiding light, much like the light from a lighthouse, offering encouragement, practical tools, and compassionate support as families navigate the challenges of supporting a loved one with addiction. My goal is to help individuals and families discover new ways of responding, strengthen their relationships, care for their own well-being, and create space for positive change.
Finding peace during challenging times is possible with steady support, practical everyday tools, and a commitment to caring for yourself.
Have you ever thought about working with a Family Support Coach? If you feel like you could use additional guidance and support, I would be honored to walk alongside you.
Let’s have a conversation and see if working together feels like the right fit for you. Click the CONTACT ME button below.
Wishing you well, always.
With compassion,
Cassandra Toppi
Family Support Coach
Helping Families Thrive with Compassion and Understanding
Sources and Further Reading:
- Cornell Chronicle. “Spending Time in Nature Reduces Stress and Anxiety.” February 25, 2020.
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Time Spent in Nature Can Boost Physical and Mental Well-Being.” January 2, 2024.
- University of Utah Health. “Spending Time Outdoors Can Boost Your Mental Health.” June 10, 2026.
- White, M.P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J., et al. “Spending at Least 120 Minutes a Week in Nature Is Associated with Good Health and Wellbeing.” Scientific Reports, 2019.
- Bratman, G.N., Hamilton, J.P., Hahn, K.S., Daily, G.C., and Gross, J.J. “Nature Experience Reduces Rumination and Subgenual Prefrontal Cortex Activation.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015.
