STORY AT-A-GLANCE
• Spending time outdoors can significantly lift your mood, and outdoors activities such as gardening and nature hikes have been found to be good therapy
• Americans spend 80% to 99% of their lives indoors — a trend that has led to “nature deficit disorder,” a term used to describe a lifestyle deficit that contributes to poor psychological and physical health
• Ecotherapy employs methods that cultivate the health benefits of being in nature. Research shows nature therapy lowers anxiety and depression, improves self-esteem, reduces blood pressure and more