January 25, 2010 - 11:57 AM

Why does nature art have such a universal appeal, and therapeutic effects? Post Two

Title: "Panther Road Clouds"

Location: Chase County, Kansas

OK, so let’s empathize with a patient in a hospital room.  You’re sick, weak, irritated, feeling trapped, and bored.  (Some jobs are like that!)  With many illnesses, you have “waves” of feeling better, then feeling worse.  In one of those “up” times, you notice a nature scene framed on the wall, and for a few moments become lost in pleasant thoughts and memories inspired by the picture.

In Kathy Hathorn & Upali Nanda’s article  “A Guide to Evidence Based Art” they mention Rachel & Stephen Kaplan’s research on attention restoration theory (1).  This theory helps explain the positive effect of nature art.  In that hospital bed, you more than likely don’t want to be there, and feel trapped physically, but also emotionally trapped in thoughts about your predicament.  

The Kaplans would refer to this as stressful directed attention.  Their theory postulates that nature images interrupt the stress by distracting the viewer with characteristics of:

- being away (to an idyllic place, not in the hospital!)

- fascination (nature’s intricate details offer a magnetic appeal)

- extent (images of trails and paths offer a direction to the idyllic place)

- sense of connectedness

- compatibility

I thought about the above while on a run on a beautiful country road in western Oklahoma this last weekend.  The sense of connectedness rung particularly poignant.  Our memories of being outside involve all of our senses: 

- the breeze against our skin

- the fresh air filling our lungs (how often does this happen in the hospital or even at work?)

- the smell of wet soil after a spring shower

- the sound of the birds flying overhead

- the sight and feel of warm sunlight on the terrain and on our backs

These memories are more than achieving a connectedness to something outside the hospital room or work environment.  They are instruments of power and vitality.  Often our memories of feeling most alive and healthy are associated with being outside in nature.  The power of nature to heal itself is rooted in tens of thousands of years of evolution in the human body and its interactions with the natural world.  

Those visceral memories give us a direct connection and confidence in the natural healing processes at work.  We subconsciously remember our pathway to health and vitality is through nature itself.

1. Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1989). The experience of nature: A psychological perspective, New York: Cambridge University Press