The research has profound implications for schools, hospitals, prisons
and public housing. Imagine bigger windows, more urban trees,
mandated lie-on-the-grass sessions, minute-long birdsong breaks. Per
Gazzaley’s quest, it might even be possible to construct doses of
nature so palatable and efficient that we hardly notice them. This
approach, of course, is classically Western. Manipulate the
environment. Feel nature without even trying.
As for me, I would be looking for a more East-meets-West
approach. I would come close to finding it in Korea. That country has
wrapped a pervasive wellness philosophy around the senses,
particularly the sense of smell that builds on the work from Japan. It’s
a good place to start the next section, which looks at the immediate
benefits of nearby nature.
- The answer is “fair.”