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If you’re having a busy day, a busy day at work, and you’re torn between your phone and unanswered emails, take just a minute to look at these pictures and your brain will thank you.
In an ideal world, we would run away from the stress of yoga class or take a warm bath to wash away the stress of a hard day. But when it’s physically impossible, there are faster ways to catch the zen, get distracted, give a respite to a tired brain – look at pictures that relax our mind.
Below are five such photos that will give you the rest you need at any time.
1. Green forest or field
City dwellers who live near green spaces are mentally more resilient. But you don’t need a park or jungle view to experience the calming effects of nature. Numerous studies have shown that even a photograph of greenery can soothe.
In 2012, during an experiment in a Dutch hospital, the walls of some wards were covered with photo wallpapers with a view of the forest, and “living walls” were built from indoor plants in the hall. Patients who were in rooms with photo wallpapers and saw greenery every day experienced less stress and recovered faster.
2. Sea surface
The sound of waves crashing against the pier is the most popular sound in the white noise generator (an insomnia and stress machine that plays sounds that soothe). But not only the sound of the sea, but even the sight of it has a relaxing effect on a person.
Experts believe that the sea gives us a sense of security, since we are part of a single world ocean. In addition, the view of a smooth, endless surface relaxes the muscles of the eyes. The sight of a smooth landscape is as soothing to the eyes as if we closed them. So, looking at the image of the blue surface, you seem to be lying with your eyes closed.
3. Natural fractals
Fractals are geometric shapes with a repeating pattern or pattern. In nature, they are found almost everywhere: in nut shells, flowers, leaves, sand dunes, snowflakes, river deltas.
A head of cauliflower is a fractal, because if you break off a piece of the inflorescence, it will repeat the whole. The veins of our body are fractals because they repeat themselves.
The calming effect may have something to do with what our brain is doing when it interprets them. In the process of evolution, our visual system has evolved so that we can efficiently process visual patterns of fractals that are widespread in nature.
Therefore, when we see them, the brain at that moment does not strain to transmit the image to the retina. The eyes easily reproduce them, which helps the brain to relax.
4. Handicraft fractals
Human-made fractal constructs work in the same way as natural ones, although they differ from them. Most artificial fractals are called so only because they exactly repeat natural ones. Architecture based on fractal geometry affects us like hypnosis.
Leonardo Da Vinci, who saw the principle of the golden section in the creations of nature, drew attention to this. All great architectural structures are created according to this principle – from the Egyptian pyramids to the modern futuristic buildings of Zaha Hadid.
You can be convinced of the “magic” effect of fractals by looking at the mosaics or painted domes of churches and mosques, looking at the onions of Orthodox cathedrals or at the towers of Catholic churches, at the Eiffel Tower, patterns on carpets, mandalas.
You can put a computer-generated fractal on your desktop instead of wallpaper and rest your eyes every 20 minutes. This will help preserve vision for those who spend a lot of time behind the screen.
5 shades of blue
It turns out that the English expression “to feel blue” – “to mope, to be sad” – is the best description for this color. Studies have shown that cool shades have a good psychological effect on us.
For example, in one study, psychologists asked students what associations they had with different colors. Blue elicited the most positive emotional responses, such as feelings of calm, happiness, peace, hope, and comfort.
Least of all respondents associated negative emotions with this color, such as sadness and depression. What’s more, people doing complex tasks felt less anxious after looking at pictures of soothing shades of blue.
So take a moment to look at something “cold” before returning to your list of a thousand and one things.