The call of nature

Literally. As in, the sounds of nature?

Not pooping, no sir.

some makes-me-happy nature sounds:

• raindrops hitting the top of my umbrella. 
• gravel crunching under car tires.
• soft thunder from a [really really far] distance. 
• muted sounds when you're underwater

Okaaaaaay, I think that was enough disclosure.

Close na ba tayo? :">

JK!

So, why did I just share with you some of my favorite nature sounds? Well, I came across this study by Alvarsson, Wiens, and Nilsson (2010).

But before that, a quick interview.

Q: Have you ever googled nature sounds to help you relax/fall asleep/keep you from going insane?
A: YES!

(Because I'm psychic, I answered your answer to my own question while you were thinking it.)

But why?

According to the findings of Alvarsson et al. (2010),

NATURE SOUNDS RELIEVE STRESS! 

[Students rejoice!] 

And guess what? Their experimental stressor was a mental math speed test. So legit.

What's interesting about this study is that they were able to measure physiological recovery (perception to physiology). They attached instruments measuring sympathetic and parasympathetic activity to the participant's bodies and studied the effects of playing the different sound types.

Based on their results, they concluded that nature sounds, as opposed to noise, facilitated a faster recovery of the sympathetic system. However, the results were not significant for that of the parasympathetic system.

The researchers suggest that positive emotions arise from hearing these sounds.

I wouldn't want to be the person that gets dumped or dumps someone in a park :-(
(Future ex-boyfriend, please take note!)


Check out http://www.freesound.org for a sound database

Check out Peter Cusack's super awesome sound map [literally a map with sounds!] project at http://www.petercusack.org/

& you could also check this out!

[watch the clip from about 11:26 to 12:55]

Miles: New York City, East River. February 27, 1989. After 5 weeks below freezing, the ice finally breaking.

Instant. favorite. sound.

References

Alvarsson, J. J., Wiens, S., & Nilsson, M. E. (2010). Stress recovery during exposure to nature sound and environmental noise. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 7(3). Retrieved from http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/7/3/1036/htm
evolutionary-disgust. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://thinkingdr.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/the-path-of-%E2%80%9Cmaking-peace-with-poop%E2%80%9D/
think green brain tree poster. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/moral-intelligence-and-civil-disobedience
[untitled image of autonomic nervous system]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://www.med.umich.edu/lrc/coursepages/m1/anatomy2010/html/modules/intro_autonomics_1_module/autonomics_02.html