The Biophilic Mind Blog
A resource of Biophilia: Pittsburgh, The Biophilic Mind is a blog focused on presenting primary-source articles at the intersection of human health and the natural world. The Biophilic Mind aims to highlight high quality, recent research about the connections between well-being and nature. By digging into experimental design, methods, and author interpretation, we aim to encourage the public to critically engage with science while learning along the way.
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The Biophilic Mind: An Astronaut’s View
Every space movie has a scene like this: after a long, bumpy launch, our hero astronaut looks out of the spaceship window and sees, to her astonishment, Earth in the distance. As the music swells, the planet glistens like a marble...
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The Biophilic Mind: Can beautiful nature make you nicer?
Do you think nature is beautiful? Or do you tend to see more brown toads than colorful rainforest frogs? On this blog I have shared many images that are aesthetically pleasing—lush forests with dark green foliage, mountain...
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The Biophilic Mind: How Does Nature Restore You?
Many of us have been spending more time in nature recently, often on long walks or runs outdoors. It feels good to get out of the house! On this blog I have written a lot about the mental and physical benefits of nature, but one...
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The Biophilic Mind: Relaxing to the Sounds of Nature
Imagine that you are recovering from surgery and are laying in a hospital bed. Or that you have just given a presentation to a group of unconvinced judges. Or that you have just taken a difficult test that you are sure you have...
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The Biophilic Mind: How close do you feel to nature?
How close do you feel to nature? This may seem like an odd question, but human-nature connectedness is vital to understanding how people relate to nature. We often assume that if people feel more connected to nature, they...
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The Biophilic Mind: A Walk in the Park to Reduce Rumination
If you have been following along on this blog, you are well aware of the benefits of experiencing nature. I am excited to share today’s study because it shows the same potential benefit in two ways, because twice the evidence...