Discover why life feels right in nature 

We’ve long been extolling the virtues of our parks’ stunning locations on the unspoilt Herefordshire/Powys border. Now, a scientist has backed up what we already knew. Spending time in the natural environment is good for your health and wellbeing.  

Boost your system 

Being in nature is not just about being outdoors and going for a stroll. A whole heap of stuff starts going on in your body when you’re outside. Your autonomic nervous system, a network of nerves controlling processes we don’t feel or even know about, starts to respond when you’re in the natural environment.  

“We see changes in the body such as a lowering of blood pressure, a change in your heart rate variability and your heart beats slower – all associated with physiological calming,” Baroness Kathy Willis, a biodiversity professor at Oxford University, told BBC Radio 4’s What’s up Docs? Podcast.   

Peace on prescription  

So positive is the effect of nature on our bodies and minds that in some areas the NHS has been trialling ‘green social prescribing’. It includes what are known as ‘green and blue’ activities. These are community-based activities that include gardening, conservation volunteering, using green gyms, or going open water swimming.  

Our hormones also change in nature with levels of cortisol and adrenaline lowering. Professor Willis says a study, in which people in a hotel room for three days were breathing in Japanese cypress oil, found adrenaline levels dropped. Natural killer cells improved and remained so for two weeks after the experiment. 

Not to be sniffed at 

And it’s not just seeing the trees and hearing the birds that’s good for your wellbeing. Having a good sniff can do you the world of good too! Professor Willis told the What’s up Doc? Podcast that the smell of a pine forest can make you calmer in under 2 minutes!

Tash Allin, Marketing and Sustainability Manager at Discover Parks, says recent improvements done to all three parks are conducted with wellness in mind: “This year we’ve introduced an outdoor gym at Pearl Lake. Some people find an indoor gym intimidating and stressful, whilst exercising in the outdoors has so many benefits as Professor Willis has outlined. We’ve also created a calming sculpture and water garden at Rockbridge to give people the chance to kick back.” 

Park perfect 

Woodland walks, the sound of the river, wildlife buzzing, tweeting and scurrying are all on hand at every turn at Arrow Bank, Pearl Lake and Rockbridge Country Holiday Parks.  

A stroll by water blends the green and blue space and will help calm the mind and soothe the body, says Tash. “We’re so lucky to be located in the area we are and we know from what guests tell us that staying with us can have a reviving effect – it’s like a natural tonic.” 

Discover Parks – a natural paradise 

*Woodland walks 

*Water features 

*Lakes, pools and rivers 

*Outdoor Gym 

*Open spaces  

*Unmown areas for nature to thrive 

*Bee friendly planting