Dr. Ethan Kross

Well, when you go for a walk in a safe, natural setting, you're surrounded by interesting cues that capture your attention in a very gentle way. So I'm talking about the flowers and the trees, the scents, the sounds. Our attention often drifts onto those features of our environment.

Now, most of us are not doing the equivalent of carrying a magnifying glass and studying the geometrical structure of the leaves and the flowers, right? We're just kind of taking it in. But the surroundings are sufficiently intriguing to capture, to grasp our attention. And that gives us this opportunity to restore that precious commodity.

Now, most of us are not doing the equivalent of carrying a magnifying glass and studying the geometrical structure of the leaves and the flowers, right? We're just kind of taking it in. But the surroundings are sufficiently intriguing to capture, to grasp our attention. And that gives us this opportunity to restore that precious commodity.

Now, most of us are not doing the equivalent of carrying a magnifying glass and studying the geometrical structure of the leaves and the flowers, right? We're just kind of taking it in. But the surroundings are sufficiently intriguing to capture, to grasp our attention. And that gives us this opportunity to restore that precious commodity.

So there's work, there's a lot of work showing that going for a walk in a safe, natural setting can be cognitively restorative. That's another feature that, or another mechanism through which nature exposure can help us. The other pathway that I just find so – this is so cool from a research point of view.

So there's work, there's a lot of work showing that going for a walk in a safe, natural setting can be cognitively restorative. That's another feature that, or another mechanism through which nature exposure can help us. The other pathway that I just find so – this is so cool from a research point of view.

So there's work, there's a lot of work showing that going for a walk in a safe, natural setting can be cognitively restorative. That's another feature that, or another mechanism through which nature exposure can help us. The other pathway that I just find so – this is so cool from a research point of view.

Going for walks in natural settings often elicit the emotion of awe, which is an emotion we experience when we're in the presence of something vast and indescribable, something that just feels bigger than ourselves. So in the arboretum near my house, there are these trees that have been there for hundreds of years. And you look up at these trees and you think, my God, like –

Going for walks in natural settings often elicit the emotion of awe, which is an emotion we experience when we're in the presence of something vast and indescribable, something that just feels bigger than ourselves. So in the arboretum near my house, there are these trees that have been there for hundreds of years. And you look up at these trees and you think, my God, like –

Going for walks in natural settings often elicit the emotion of awe, which is an emotion we experience when we're in the presence of something vast and indescribable, something that just feels bigger than ourselves. So in the arboretum near my house, there are these trees that have been there for hundreds of years. And you look up at these trees and you think, my God, like –

You've been there way longer than me and my parents and my grandparents, and you probably will be there longer than all of my progeny. Like, wow, that just broadens my perspective. Or an amazing sunset. You can also experience this emotion through feats of innovation. So I'm a science geek, I guess you could say. And for me, the two biggest awe triggers are

You've been there way longer than me and my parents and my grandparents, and you probably will be there longer than all of my progeny. Like, wow, that just broadens my perspective. Or an amazing sunset. You can also experience this emotion through feats of innovation. So I'm a science geek, I guess you could say. And for me, the two biggest awe triggers are

You've been there way longer than me and my parents and my grandparents, and you probably will be there longer than all of my progeny. Like, wow, that just broadens my perspective. Or an amazing sunset. You can also experience this emotion through feats of innovation. So I'm a science geek, I guess you could say. And for me, the two biggest awe triggers are

Number one, the images of the galaxy that the latest telescope produces, which if you follow this, physicists have somehow figured out, engineers, how to take pictures of what the universe looked like billions of years ago. Somehow, I don't understand the physics. We can see what it looked like. This vast amounts of time ago.

Number one, the images of the galaxy that the latest telescope produces, which if you follow this, physicists have somehow figured out, engineers, how to take pictures of what the universe looked like billions of years ago. Somehow, I don't understand the physics. We can see what it looked like. This vast amounts of time ago.

Number one, the images of the galaxy that the latest telescope produces, which if you follow this, physicists have somehow figured out, engineers, how to take pictures of what the universe looked like billions of years ago. Somehow, I don't understand the physics. We can see what it looked like. This vast amounts of time ago.

And we also, of course, have the equivalent of an SUV currently roaming on Mars, sending us back footage of that planet. So when I think of that, like we've actually landed a vehicle on another planet. this vastly expands. Like I am filled with awe. So when we are experiencing something vast and indescribable like that, this is the ultimate perspective broadener.

And we also, of course, have the equivalent of an SUV currently roaming on Mars, sending us back footage of that planet. So when I think of that, like we've actually landed a vehicle on another planet. this vastly expands. Like I am filled with awe. So when we are experiencing something vast and indescribable like that, this is the ultimate perspective broadener.

And we also, of course, have the equivalent of an SUV currently roaming on Mars, sending us back footage of that planet. So when I think of that, like we've actually landed a vehicle on another planet. this vastly expands. Like I am filled with awe. So when we are experiencing something vast and indescribable like that, this is the ultimate perspective broadener.

So it leads to what we call shrinking of the self. We feel smaller when we're contemplating something vast and indescribable. And when we feel smaller, guess what else feels smaller? So this is an easy way of utilizing the world around you to powerfully manage your emotions. And so what I love about that work is it highlights the fact that there are tools that are just hidden in plain sight.