CBC Radio – Many find themselves struggling with the cold, grey days with the shorter daylight hours of winter. But even within this gloomier setting, there’s an easy way to boost your mood, according to Holli-Anne Passmore.
“When people notice nature, and not necessarily even just spend extra time, but just [notice] it, we know it enhances our positive emotions,” she told The Current’s host Matt Galloway.
Passmore is an associate professor of psychology at the Concordia University of Edmonton who studies the correlation between nature and people’s well being.
She says if you simply take a moment to notice every bit of nature around you — whether it’s a tree at the bus stop, a bird in the backyard, or the plants on your desk — you can feel a spark of joy, connectedness, hope and gratitude.
In January, she launched a study with about 150 students at Concordia University of Edmonton to see how paying attention to nature in the winter affects their mood. She thinks the results will be similar to a study she did back in the winter of 2021.
In that previous study, Passmore split around 60 participants into three groups. One group was asked to look at nature, another at human-built objects, and a control group.
For two weeks, the first two groups were asked to go about their usual routines but to pay attention to what they saw during the day.
Then, on a daily basis, they received an email prompting them to log what they noticed, upload a photo, and describe how what they saw made them feel.
Participants who looked at nature reported feeling more satisfaction with life, hope and nature connectedness …
