Today we went out Vestamager to a nature reserve. It was a really nice time to get out into the nature, and I thought the contrast between the city and nature was also really interesting to see.
We talked about two main theories regarding happiness and nature. One was from an evolutionary perspective, which proposed that we gain wellbeing from nature because that is what our ancestors lived in. There has barely been any time evolutionarily for us to adjust to the city culture, so we find the greatest wellbeing in the type of environment we evolved in. The other theory was from a neurological perspective, which believes that we gain wellbeing from being in nature due to the fact that we don't have as many stimuli as we do when we are in a big city. When we go to work we get a spike of stress, and when we come back, we may never fully come down to relaxed state, so we might be continually increasing our stress levels.
Another topic we talked about was healing gardens. Jonatan told of instances in which people with PTSD were allowed to work in gardens and they showed improvement from it. It could be the case that they are gaining both hedonic and eudamonic wellbeing, in that they are feeling more at peace and they are also gaining meaning and autonomy from the work they are doing in the garden. He also described the criteria for being a healing garden, which included many species of animals, openness, peace, and the feel of being in a different world. The nature reserve that we were at definitely had a relaxing feel to it.
We were able to chop wood and also made some bread on spears, which was interesting. At the end we had a chance to reflect on the entire course. I definitely enjoyed my time being in the course, and I feel that my favorite aspect of the course was our instructor, Jonatan. I know the ideas of hedonic and eudamonic happiness will stick with me. I also enjoyed being able to experience different aspects of Danish culture, such as going to the park in Copenhagen and talking with Danes. Overall, I'm really glad I took the course, and I feel that I got a lot out of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment