Hello, this is 6 Minute English. I’m Neil. |
And I’m Georgina. |
Georgina, what do you do to cheer yourself up? |
Having a walk usually helps – especially if it’s in the countryside. |
Yes, being in all the green open space can certainly help us relax and de-stress |
– getting back to nature can be a tonic when you’re feeling down. |
A tonic is something that makes you feel happier and healthier. I’ll drink to that! |
Me too. |
But connecting with the natural world is particularly beneficial to people with mental health issues such as clinical depression. |
And it’s something that’s being called ’ecotherapy’. |
More on that in a moment but here’s a question for you to answer, Georgina. |
OK, Neil. Fire away. |
Well, seeing or even hugging trees is a form of therapy, but how high is the world’s tallest tree thought to be? |
Is it... a) 65.8 metres, b) 115.8 metres, or c) 185.8 metres? |
Georgina, any ideas? |
Not a clue – but let’s go for the highest figure of 185.8 metres. |
Are you sure? |
Well, we’ll have to wait until the end of the programme to find out. |
Now, the mental health charity, Mind, |
describes ecotherapy as a formal type of treatment which involves doing outdoor activities in nature. |
However, there’s not one simple definition, it just relates to doing activities outdoors. |
Yes, it can involve doing many things, |
such as outdoor yoga or horticulture – another name for gardening. |
It doesn’t involve taking medication, |
but instead it just develops a person’s relationship with nature. |
It’s something Patricia Hasbach knows a lot about. |
She’s a clinical psychotherapist and told the BBC Radio programme Health Check how ecotherapy can help. |
Does she say it can help everyone? |
I often think about ecotherapy as another tool in the therapist’s toolbox. |
It’s not a panacea. |
It’s not going to erase somebody’s pain or grief. |
But it is a powerful tool, you know. |
Traditionally therapy has stopped at the urban boundary. |
So it’s interesting that she describes ecotherapy as a tool – something that can be used to achieve something else. |
Here it can be used to help improve someone’s mental health. |
Ah, but she says it’s not a panacea – so not something that will solve everything. |
It won’t erase or get rid of someone’s pain. |
But going beyond what she calls the ‘urban boundary’, and into the natural world, means there is another method for helping people. |
Now, as we’ve mentioned, ecotherapy can take on many forms |
– doing art in a forest or running on a beach are all therapeutic. |
They’re things that makes you feel better or healthier. |
Well, I think that’s clear, but what is it about the outdoors that affects us? |
A good question, Georgina. |
It seems from research that our busy brains are always on guard, |
but when we get into nature it gets a break, |
there’s not so much to be on the lookout for and we can relax. |
Well, it does seem the negative symptoms of urban life can benefit from a dose of nature – a dose is an amount of something. |
Let’s get a good explanation from an expert. |
Environmental psychologist Birgitta Gatersleben also spoke to the BBC Health Check programme and gave two reasons |
– one of them, she explained, was something called ’biophilia’. |
Biophilia, very briefly, is really an innate positive response that people have with life and life-like features. |
The idea that nature reminds us of life, |
and if we (are) exposed to the natural elements, |
then our sort of negative feelings get almost immediately replaced with positive emotions. |
Birgitta Gatersleben there explaining biophilia – which is a passion for or empathy with the natural world and living things. |
She said biophilia is innate, which means it’s a quality that you’re born with. |
So basically, most of us were born to connect with nature |
– nature reminds us of life and gives us good, positive emotions. |
Naturally. OK. Well, Georgina, maybe getting today’s quiz question right will give you positive emotions. |
Earlier I asked you how high the world’s tallest tree is thought to be. |
Is it... a) 65.8 metres, b) 115.8 metres, or c) 185.8 metres? |
What did you say? |
I said c) 185.8 metres. |
Oh dear, I’m afraid that’s far too high! |
The correct answer is 115.8 metres. Never mind. |
The tree, named Hyperion, is a type of redwood and was found in California in 2006. |
Well, that’s still very tall, and would be great to see. |
Now we’ve just got time to recap some of the vocabulary we’ve discussed, |
starting with tonic which can be a fizzy drink you mix with an alcoholic drink, |
but in the context of therapy it can mean something that makes you feel happier and healthier. |
Horticulture is the study or activity of growing garden plants – in other words, gardening. |
A panacea is something believed to solve everything. |
If something is therapeutic, it makes you feel better or healthier. |
We also discussed biophilia, which is a passion for or empathy with the natural world and living things. |
And innate means a quality that you naturally have – you’re born with it. |
Well, as you know I have an innate quality for presenting this programme – but now it’s time to go. |
Please join us next time, |
and don’t forget to check us out on your favourite social media platform, on our app, |
and of course the website bbclearningenglish.com. |
Goodbye. |
Bye! |