The Real Happiness Projects Confirms: Nature Makes Us Happy!

You know that moment in the day when you’re exhausted and in dire need of a pick me up? Maybe you’re at work. Maybe you’re at home. Maybe you’re commuting from one place to another on public transit. Maybe you’ve had a bad day, or maybe you’re just feeling bored.

You decide to check out social media to distract you from life for a little while.

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People getting engaged. People announcing pregnancies, gender reveals, births. Someone’s looking for a recommendation for a veterinarian in your neighborhood. Someone else just got a promotion, while someone else just lost their job.

Politics, politics, politics.

Then you see what you came for: the perfect animal video.

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Whether you prefer something cute, cuddly, and adorable, like a baby orangutan learning how to orangutan or something more informative, like the discovery of a new species or a kickstarter for a conservation project, the internet has what you’re looking for.

You keep scrolling and you stumble upon an album a friend shared from their recent backpacking trip in Yellowstone. The images are lovely and calming and inspire a deep sense of wanderlust.

If these scenarios sound familiar, you’re definitely not alone. It turns out, there just might be a scientific reason why videos and images of nature–whether they be animals, landscapes, or even skyscapes–make us feel happy!

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A recent study BBC Earth and the University of California, Berkeley suggests that watching nature documentaries actually increases our happiness!

Fortunately for us, they’re taking this idea a step further and have started the Real Happiness Project, an initiative designed to improve lives by helping connect more people to the natural world. Take a look at the video below to find out more about this awesome project!