The success of many wellness market products depends on their ability to convince users that they can improve their wellbeing, that is, their perceived state of being 1. In the absence of clinical evidence commonly found in products conceived under traditional scientific methods, wellness products rely on self-reporting tools and other subjective means. This limitation is not a deterrent to their adoption, though. Meditation apps, breathing therapy, and sound healing apps, among others, are a few examples of successful products out there.
Likewise, it is widely accepted that being in touch with nature is good for our wellbeing, yet we don’t know the correct form or amount, or “dose,” of nature contact. Searching for the ultimate nature fix, the scientific community has examined various forms of nature contact, from owning houseplants, gardening, and being in the wilderness to living in green neighborhoods2. Among the most significant findings is a recent study showing that 20 minutes of strolling or sitting in a place that makes you feel in contact with nature will significantly lower your stress hormone levels3. Thus, more doctors are prescribing “nature pills” or “nature prescriptions” to treat their patients. Park Rx America (PRA) is an online platform model that educates and matches the public with health providers who prescribe nature as the first line of health care defense in the US and Canada. Policy-makers around the World have also been noticing. Through the Nature Recovery Network (NRN), launched in early 2022, the UK brings together partners, legislation, and funding to restore and enhance England’s wildlife-rich places and integrate them into the daily life of every UK citizen in rural and urban areas. Last year, the US Congress introduced the “Outdoors for All Act” bill to boost funding for projects that increase green outdoor spaces in urban areas. The tech industry has not fallen behind. NatureQuant is a tech startup that offers a mobile tool that lets users track their nature exposure to green outdoors daily.
At Humegy, we recognize that millions of Americans have limited access to green outdoors because of living in green deprived areas, lack of time, physical disability, or circumstances that restrict their mobility, such as those found in prisons, nursing homes, and mental facilities. Here is where PhyBe carries hope. It helps everyone bring nature indoors through indoor plants and allows users to create and maintain sustained caring relationships with them. It brings indoors to life by bringing life into it! Although we believe there is no substitute for nature exposure in the green outdoors, we do believe we can build a bridge between the green outdoors and green indoors through PhyBe. Grounding ourselves in our native environments is a sensory experience transcending the body and the mind. More importantly, by maintaining this relationship intimate and alive, we renew the commitment of newer generations to our environment and are naturally positioned to care for it in the future. As such, PhyBe contributes to existing efforts to make “nature pills” the primary source of body, mind, and transcendental wellness, even indoors.
1 https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/industry-research/global-wellness-economy-monitor-2017
2 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28796634/
3 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00722/full
