Understanding The Body

This paper is a written report from an expert named John Davis, Ph.D. I share her writing on my blog that may be useful for visiting my blog. Because I believe, this paper is very useful for anyone who cares about himself.

Strong body of psychological research, supported by widespread anecdotal evidence, confirms the hypothesis that direct contact with nature leads to increased mental health and psychological development. This research helps explain the appeal of nature for city-dwellers and supports the value of increased contact with nature for children and adults. Positive relationship between nature and health is so strong that Howard Frumkin, director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Richard Louv, author of an excellent book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit disorder, concluded that "land conservation can now be seen as public health strategies (Frumkin & Louv, 2007).

Research settings include various meetings with nature - extended wilderness trips, hiking in open space or a local nature preserve, playing in a city park or back yard, gardening, caring for a small plot of grass-urban or urban vacant lot with the officers of ecosystems, and even watch on the TV landscape. While the different psychological approaches (evolutionary, behavioral, cognitive, psychodynamic, systems, humanistic, and transpersonal) focus on different aspects of the psychological benefits of natural experience, all experience has shown that the desired natural and healthy. This is a phenomenal deal! There is also limited, but suggestive, the findings of this study cross-cultural and universal.
Level of empirical support cited here vary. In addition to research that has been done and confirmed directly on the experience of nature, some of the findings of related literature, both empirical and theoretical, bears directly on this question. Their results are not yet carried out on the experience of nature is based on solid research that can be easily generalized and tested. This literature review is incomplete, but I feel it covers, large and representative sample.

I. Relaxation, Stress Reduction, and Restoration of MentalThese benefits affect individuals directly and focus on the level prepersonal and personal development, rather than transpersonal level, which is discussed below. Most have strong documentation, several strong hypotheses. For starters, look at a brief review of the American Psychological Association Monitor and research summaries featuring Rachel and Steven Kaplan.
A. Relaxation and stress reduction. Various studies over the years have shown a quicker recovery from stress in response to natural stimuli than built settings. These findings included a variety of settings from the nearest natural wilderness. This focus on physical relaxation, cognitive, and affective. An example is the study presents a video of stress (such as industrial accidents) to study participants and indicates that the next natural videos leads to a faster recovery than the video with other content. More than a hundred studies have shown that stress reduction is a major benefit of perceived wilderness recreation comprehensive review has been carried out by Hartig, Mang, & Evans, Kaplan & Kaplan, etc.). (Note that studies have linked increased levels of stress with a variety of emotional and cognitive difficulties, decreased performance on various tasks, increased frequency of accidents, and health problems.)
B. Decrease in mental fatigue, restored mental clarity, and sense of increased well-being. Steven and Rachel Kaplan, of the University of Michigan, and Terry Hartig, from Uppsala University, has shown that experiences of nature to relieve mental fatigue. As the balance too much attention is directed, nature offers intrinsic interest and a sense of awe. Restorative effect of the natural environment (whether the time in the wilderness setting or the streets of the local nature preserve) caused renewed attention and positive affect. For example, after 45 minutes of mental employment taxes, a walk in the area of ​​natural causes recoverty better than a walk in urban areas or reading magazines and listening to music (Hartig). Just looking at pictures of natural scenery (compared with the urban scene) cause increased sense of well being. Increased awareness on the nature of the natural environment experience a relationship with a strong body of research on Gendlin's focus of consciousness, sensory, and consciousness (Gendline; Schroder, Sewall).
C. Recovery from surgery, physical health and healing, improve performance, and a sense of increased well-being. The study by Roger Ulrich and others show that the view of nature (instead of the built environment) from the window of the hospital room that facilitates recovery from surgery, leads to less use of health care services among the inmates, improving the performance of work in job settings, and increase job satisfaction . These benefits range of physical and mental health benefits. (It also may help explain the dominance of posters and calendars with pictures of natural scenery on the wall of a windowless office cubicle.) Research helps in showing that contact with nature "wild" useful anywhere along the spectrum of the built environment for the wilderness. For someone recovering from surgery in a hospital room, even a more natural view from the window to promote health. We may add to these findings, evidence that the plants and bring pets into the hospital room and residential care facilities such as nursing homes improve the physical and mental health.
D. The benefits for children's attention. Frances Kuo has done some research, confirmed by other researchers, suggests that contact with even tiny green spaces in cities leads to improvements in the child's ability to pay attention, delay gratification, and manage impulses. Kuo and others also showed that contact with nature reduces the symptoms associated with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder in children.

II. Hardiness, Locus of Control, Challenges, Current, and CompatibilityA. Hardiness (Kobasa and Maddi) is a combination of internal locus of control, appreciation of the challenges as opportunities, and a commitment to yourself. The study by Kobasa and others demonstrated that hardiness moderates the negative effects of stress and strengthens the existential dimension of psychological health. Internal locus of control (Rotter), self-efficacy beliefs (Bandura), and perceived control (Stern) refers to the attribution of a controlling factor in one's life (through the action of its own internally or externally through others a strong, external events, opportunities, or fate). An internal locus of control is both a sign of mental health and antecedents to mental health. These concepts also bind well to the concept of learned helplessness and learned optimism (ie, the extent to which their own actions determine the outcome; Seligman).
Expanding on the concept of locus of control, Deane Shapiro distinguish between healthy and unhealthy types of internal and external locus of control. Healthy sense of internal control is the belief that the activities a person can have an effect. Unhealthy sense of internal control is similar to obsessive effort to control one's environment through. Healthy sense of external control leads to confidence and the desire to "go with the flow," while an unhealthy sense of external control associated with helplessness.
Various types of natural experience (from gardening to wilderness backpacking) will increase the sense of durable, healthy and realistic internal locus of control, and self-efficacy. This is probably central to the success of the intervention variables wilderness therapy and wilderness rites of the program. This may also explain some of the benefits of plants and animals brought to the hospital and residential care facilities. Plants and animals provide more contact with nature, and they may offer an opportunity to demonstrate an internal locus of control. I would hypothesize that the experience of nature is very effective in raising healthy combination of optimistic beliefs (internal health locus of control) and submit the trust (the healthy external locus of control) and decreased unhealthiest combination compulsive disorder, the anxiety-ridden attempt to overcontrol and frustrated helplessness give up control. There is evidence that supports this hypothesis. For example, wilderness experience led to more confidence and less need for control (Kaplan & Talbot). It balances the tendency of imposing an internal locus of control. In the deepest, trust is associated with the existential type of relaxation, harmony with the Tao as a person's life events. Indeed, content analysis of the accounts agree wilderness experience (Kaplan & Kaplan).
B. Successfully face the challenges, features nearly all of the wilderness experience, leading to self-confidence and improve self-esteem. This applies to the various programs, including wilderness therapy, outdoor challenges (such as Outward Bound), and wilderness rites of the program (eg, Keith Russell; Kellert & Derr). This effect is also found in environmental education programs that use the direct contact with nature and wilderness. While most programs including therapy, as well as nature-based, intervention, there is reason to believe that exposure to wild nature itself is an important advantage of the program (Kaplan & Kaplan). Based on the findings of psychological health and psychoimmunology, we would expect the benefits to enhance physical and behavioral health care along with mental health.
C. Coherence (defined as the perception of connectedness, wholeness, and meaningfulness) are associated with better mental health and reduce negative stress (Antonovsky). I hope that direct encounters with intact, healthy ecosystems (ie, ecosystems show a high degree of coherence) leads to a greater sense of psychological coherence.
D. Flow (Csikzentmihalyi) involving high-risk yield, high intensity, intrinsic motivation, balance the demands and capabilities, combining awareness and action, absorption into the activity, now centering, healthy body of the ego (or ego-boundaries), and self-transcendence. This is the main characteristic of optimal mental health, and Flow is a natural characteristic of the meeting, both nearby and wilderness-based. Mitchell suggests a connection to the mountains and, perhaps, different types of wilderness experience: "The mountains offer the antithesis of alienation, they offer the potential to flow." Goleman argues that encourages meditation flows and uses this concept to explain the various effects and experience of meditation. (Note: The flow is as transpersonal as it is personal and can be placed at the bottom.)E. Compatibility (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989), the fit between the needs of a person, a person's capacity, and what the environment offers. This seems related to the flow, but less intense or more a sense of "coming home." (According to this definition, compatibility will be closer to the experience of meditative On Compatibility, extreme also becomes transpersonal. When people feel the world as one beyond duality.)

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