Enjoy Singapore, Naturally - Why Contact With Nature Is Good for Us

Singapore may be a high-density urban centre, but it’s also an extraordinarily green place – there are over 300 parks and four nature reserves within its borders. Taking time out to visit these natural spaces is not only pleasant and fun, it could actually enhance your mental wellbeing and help you live longer.

- Kim Forrester

Our connection to nature is inescapable. At a physical level, we share the same biological systems, behaviours and most of the genetic makeup of our fellow mammals. At a molecular level, we’re comprised of six main elements (from oxygen to phosphorous), each of which is sourced from the planet that we live on. The fact is, we are nature, and studies show that interacting with natural spaces on a regular basis is incredibly beneficial for both our health and longevity.

Since moving to S ingapore , Karen’s teenage daughter had shown increasing signs of anxiety. The bustling neighbourhood they lived in appeared to be a constant source of low-level stress for her, despite careful professional care. “We lived on a busy road and the only way to have a sense of peace was to close all the windows. That would instantly leave us feeling disconnected from the world and entrapped in a man-made cube. It just seemed to me that our environment was undermining any progress we were making in terms of my daughter’s mental health,” Karen says.

Eventually, the family decided to move to a more remote location within a forested area of the island. The effect on Karen’s daughter was positive – and surprisingly swift. “Within weeks her state of mind improved dramatically,”

Karen says. “One day, she came home particularly tense and anxious – usually the precursor of a very distressing evening. But this day, she disappeared for an hour and returned in a calm and peaceful mood. She informed me she had been in the forest ‘meditating’ under a banana tree.”