Spending time in snowy landscapes can help you love your body, study finds
With December just around the corner, many of us will be looking forward to snow to get in the holiday spirit.
But snowy landscapes can have another advantage, especially if a relative wants to comment on your figure around. Christmas dinner table.
A new study from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge found that spending time in the snow helps you feel better in your body.
This is thought to be because it helps take your mind off negative thoughts about how your body looks and instead makes you appreciate the way it moves.
The study recruited 87 female volunteers who walked through the snow-covered Ciganski Las forest in Poland (pictured) for an average of 40 minutes.
Senior author Professor Viren Swamy said: “The natural environment helps limit negative thoughts about appearance and shift the focus from an aesthetic view of the body to a deeper understanding of the functionality of the body.
“A positive body image is not only important in and of itself, but also has other beneficial effects, including positive psychological well-being.”
Past Research Professor Swami has shown that green spaces such as parks and forests and “blue environments” such as those by the sea can enhance body awareness.
A new study published this month in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Healthaimed at seeing if “white spaces” could have a similar benefit.
Professor Swami’s team recruited 87 female volunteers for a walk through the snow-covered forest of Tsyganski Las in Poland for an average of 40 minutes.
Before they did, the women took part in surveys that rated their relationship with their bodies on a five-point scale, as well as how connected they were to nature and self-compassion.
Professor Swamy’s previous research has shown that being in green areas such as parks and forests and “blue environments” such as by the sea helps improve body appearance (stock images)
After the walk, they re-took the body-assessment survey.
The results showed that their body score increased by an average of 0.29.
In their paper, the researchers wrote, “The natural environment has the ability to regenerate depleted psychological resources.”
Also, given that the volunteers were on foot, it could allow them to “focus more explicitly on feeling grateful for what their bodies allowed them to accomplish.”
The study also found that those who scored higher on self-compassion appreciated their bodies more after the walk.
The researchers, backed by scientists at the Medical University of Silesia, say these people may have “characteristics” that allow them to benefit more from the environment.
They wrote: “Thinking without attention, which occurs in a natural environment, may allow people with a high level of self-compassion to calm their mind or reach a state of relaxation more quickly, which in turn can lead to a greater impact on the state of the body.”
Walking can help them realize that “everyone has flaws” and encourage them to “show kindness and acceptance towards their body”, which may be more natural for those who have a high level of self-compassion.
Walking in nature is said to help take your mind off negative thoughts about how your body looks and instead makes you appreciate the way it moves (file image)
Lead author, Dr. Camila Chepchor-Bernat, said: “There is now a body of evidence that suggests that being close to nature, frequenting or interacting with environments such as forests and parks, is associated with a range of physical and psychological benefits. well-being”.
The researchers say this is the first study linking spending time in snowy landscapes, alone or in a group, with the goal of improving your relationship with your body.
Professor Swami concluded: “Our results demonstrate the importance of ensuring that everyone can access a restorative natural environment, which can be a cost-effective way to promote a healthier body image, and highlights that there are significant benefits to being in nature, whatever the weather. .