The Wellness Corner - A little time in nature can make a big difference to your health

Contributed by Valerie Horne from information provided by the National Institutes of Health, Frontiers of Psychology, Nature.com, PLOS ONE and Semantic Scholar

Ten minutes of gardening or a weekly visit to a public garden can alleviate depression.

Twenty minutes spent hiking among trees, bird-watching or pursuing other activities in nature reduces cortisol, the stress hormone.

Thirty minutes of sitting or walking in a park setting can lower blood pressure and heart rate.

Forty-five minutes or more of hiking in the mountains results in less fatigue and higher alertness than the same amount of time spent indoors on a treadmill.

Sixty minutes spent interacting with nature, such as walking in urban parks or on tree­lined streets, can boost memory and attention span by 20%.