Episode #139
What the Forest Does to Your Brain | Isabel Van De Voorde_139
You walk into the forest tired and you walk out lighter, and you never really knew why. In this episode, recorded in the forest in Luxembourg, psychologist Isabel Van De Voorde explains what happens in your brain and your body when you slow down among the trees. Isabel spent years in HR. Then came exhaustion, sick leave, and long walks in the forest where she felt on her own without feeling alone. As a psychologist, she wanted to know why. Today she is planting a seed of wellbeing , showing people how time in nature calms the stress system and changes the way we treat ourselves, each other and the living world. Why 20 minutes in nature is enough to calm your stress system, and why two hours a week is a realistic goal for a busy life. What happens in the brain when you look at ferns and trees instead of screens and traffic, and how natural fractal shapes let your attention rest. How the sound of birds lowers fear in the brain, why hospitals use it with children in cancer treatment, and why the effect is stronger in women. Why a forest walk with your phone on vibration gives your brain a very different dopamine response than a walk without it. The one thing you can do this week: before you walk into work or pick up your kids, stay a few minutes in the car without your phone, open the window, watch the clouds, and listen to the birds. Connect with Isabel here: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabel-van-de-voorde-8180432/?isSelfProfile=false Website: https://naturalminds.lu/ This podcast is part of Seeds for a Better World, the association I founded here in Luxembourg. What this work brings in goes to education for children in rural Colombia. If this conversation gave you something today, you can give something back here: https://www.seedsforabetterworld.com/donate Plant it. Grow it. Spread it.
