🤓 SMARTIE PANTS…
Magnificent Melatonin
Most people think melatonin is just that sleepy hormone made in your brain when it gets dark. That's only 10% of the story—literally.
Your pineal gland produces about 10% of your melatonin when darkness hits your eyes. This version gets released into your bloodstream and makes you sleepy.
But the special magic? Your mitochondria produce a whopping 90% of your body's melatonin. This version doesn't make you sleepy—it works on-site protecting every cell from damage and supporting energy production.
What stimulates each type:
- Brain melatonin: Triggered by darkness hitting your eyes
- Mitochondrial melatonin: Stimulated by sunlight (specifically infrared and long-wavelength light)
This is why you need both morning sunlight AND evening darkness. You're not just setting your circadian clock—you're literally producing different types of the same hormone for different jobs. One helps you sleep, the other helps you live longer.
Pretty magnificent, right?
🔥 DEEP DIVE DL;TL
Nature and the Mind: How Nature Improves Our Mind and Body
Quick question: what makes you feel calmer—a gentle walk on the beach or hitting the shops in a busy city centre? If you said beach, congratulations, your brain is working exactly as evolution intended.
Whilst I didn't need a study to tell me being in nature makes me feel better, it's still fascinating how deep this connection runs. Nature isn't some nice to have luxury—it's actual medicine for our minds, bodies, and souls.
This week's TL;DL is based on Dr Marc Berman's fascinating research on how nature affects our brains. The environmental neuroscientist has just published a book called Nature and the Mind. In a recent MindBodyGreen podcast, he discusses his inspiring findings on how nature enhances our powers of attention, shapes our brain development and how green and blue spaces can transform our thoughts and our lives. Let's talk a walk...
Nature Is a Necessity—Not an Amenity
Dr. Berman's research proves what our ancestors knew instinctively: the environment around us profoundly impacts our behaviour, mood, and cognitive abilities. We reach for coffee to boost our energy, or pills or food to change our mood, but we can actually transform our mental state simply by getting up, and going outside in nature.
The green spaces and trees around us - they aren't luxuries for certain neighbourhoods—they're necessities because they provide physical health benefits, mental health benefits, and have been shown to reduce aggression, crime and increase cooperation.
Humans need nature to reach their full potential, and we're not going to be able to reach our full potential unless we have more nature in our daily lives and activities.
The Nature Walk Study That Changes Everything
Dr. Berman's breakthrough study will make you rethink your lunch break forever. Participants took challenging memory tests, then went on 50 minute walks through either nature areas or busy downtown streets. No phones allowed—just walking.
The results? Those who walked in nature improved their working memory and attention by 20%. Imagine boosting your brain power by a full fifth just from a lunch break in the park.
Here's the kicker: participants who walked in freezing January weather—miserable, cold, and complaining—still got the same cognitive benefits as those who enjoyed pleasant summer walks. You don't have to love being outside to benefit from it. Cloudy day? Rainy morning? Perfect conditions for your brain reset.
Your Two Attention Systems
Your brain operates with two attention systems:
Directed Attention: The focused, effortful concentration you use for work and problem-solving. It gets depleted throughout the day like a phone battery.
Involuntary Attention: Gets automatically captured by interesting things around you without effort—like watching clouds move or leaves rustle in the breeze.
Modern life constantly drains your directed attention with endless decisions, notifications, and mental demands. Nature restores it by gently engaging your involuntary attention.
Green Spaces vs Blue Spaces
Whether it's green forests and parks or blue oceans and rivers, natural environments provide the same restorative benefits. The key is finding places that don't demand your focused attention, waves lapping or leaves rustling.
The Minimum Effective Dose
Research shows we need about 2 hours per week in nature—roughly 20 minutes daily. Even 10 minutes looking at nature pictures or listening to nature sounds provides benefits when the real thing isn't accessible.
Nature Heals Your Body Too
A hospital study found patients recovering from surgery who could see trees and greenery from their windows recovered a full day earlier and needed significantly less pain medication than those staring at brick walls. Your brain evolved in nature, so seeing natural environments triggers genuine healing responses in your body.
The $20,000 Tree
Researchers found that adding just one tree per city block improved residents' health equivalent to giving every household $10,000-$20,000 or making them 1.5 years younger.
When nature disappears, people get sicker. Studies of areas where beetles killed ash trees showed increased mortality rates years later, primarily from cardiovascular disease. As Dr. Berman puts it: "When trees die, people die."
Bottom line: You don't need perfect weather or pristine wilderness to benefit from nature. Step outside when you're struggling to focus, choose the scenic route when driving, and remember—nature isn't optional for optimal human health.
☀️ SANDY'S SUNSHINE
Nature is medicine for your mind, body, and soul. Here’s how to get your daily dose, whether you’re stuck indoors or ready to re-wild:
When You’re Struggling: Having trouble focusing? Feeling stressed or mentally exhausted? Don’t reach for social media or another coffee—step outside for 10 minutes instead. Can’t get outside? Look at nature pictures or listen to nature sounds for instant relief.
Bring Nature Into Your Home or Office: Transform your space with indoor plants (even fake ones were shown to provide benefits – eek!). Pop some pictures of nature (forests, oceans, mountains) on the wall, and play gentle nature sounds like rainfall, ocean waves, or bird songs while working. Need to redecorate? Choose nature-inspired colors and textures for those cushions, throw rug or doona cover.
Daily Nature Habits: Make simple swaps that add nature to your routine: choose the scenic route over the freeway, even if it takes a few extra minutes. Eat meals outside when possible and position yourself near windows with any green view. Create quality family nature time by getting the kids outside daily, regardless of weather and create nature collections with shells, rocks, and pinecones from your adventures. Have picnics in parks, plant flowers together, and explore local trails to build lifelong connections with the natural world.
Remember: you don’t have to love nature to benefit from it. Cloudy, rainy, or cold—the cognitive benefits still happen. Aim for 20 minutes daily, but even small doses count.
🔢 NUMBER CRUNCH
160,000 km - The total length of your blood vessels if laid end to end. That's enough to circle Earth four times or reach halfway to the moon. Your cardiovascular system is literally an astronomical network that needs daily movement to stay strong.
And that's a wrap my beautiful friends! Time to put on those shoes (or not - barefoot also works) and head outside. See you out there! 🌿
P.S What did you think of today's newsletter? Let me know below ⬇️⬇️⬇️
