One Saturday, 10 years ago, Sarah Allely set out from her Sydney home to take part in an early morning exercise class. Pedaling along the quiet streets, she was blissfully unaware of the turn her life was about to take. 

Moments later, she woke up in the middle of the road in searing pain, surrounded by passers-by and paramedics. A motorist had knocked her off her bike. 

She was taken to the emergency room but discharged later that day with a concussion, shoulder injury and a belief that she was fine. That was until she got home to her partner and two young daughters and tried relaxing by picking up the book she had been reading. 

"I can run my eyes over the words, but I can't make sense of the sentences, so it feels like I can't read," she recalled. 

In the coming days, she had persistent headaches and brain fog that made the day-to-day of home life unusually challenging. She was written off sick from work, and her diary, which had previously been given over to work, family and social commitments, began to fill with medical appointments. All she felt able to do was sit under a tree in her garden.

"I don't think they understood how badly I was injured. I didn't. None of the doctors did," Allely said. She was given different medications and even had Botox injections in her head to ease the pain. When nothing worked, she was eventually sent for a brain scan and a series of cognitive tests. 

"The brain injury specialist was able to diagnose a mild traumatic brain injury based on the way I was responding," Allely said, adding that it was a relief to know what was wrong. She was told she would ultimately make a full recovery, although "there still wasn't any obvious treatment."

An unexpected treatment 

 She was told to accept her current state and not fight it. But months after the accident, she was still off work and the headaches remained a feature of her daily life. That was until she and her children were invited on a bush walk with friends.  

 "It was the first day since the accident that I hadn't had a headache, and it was extraordinary," Allely said. "There's something about being in the bush that was really good for me. I didn't know what it was, but I knew something had changed." 

So she started going on slow, deliberate walks in her neighborhood, looking at gardens or the local river. And this too had an impact. "I would feel almost like a fog lifting, but also the pressure of any headaches lifting, so then I'd feel more relaxed." 

Is there science behind the benefits of nature?

The mental health benefits of time spent in the forest are now well-documented. One recent meta-study into forest bathing — which originated in Japan in the 1980s and sees practitioners consciously observing the woodlands where they're spending time — found that the practice can significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

But early research also suggests that time in nature could be beneficial for people suffering from physical pain or injury, like Sarah Allely. A European study published last month revealed that even brief exposure to nature helped some people to record a reduction in pain. 

And in Danish research published last year, 17 brain injury patients who incorporated time in nature into their rehabilitation reported a "sense of enhanced activity" and noted how being in nature "increased their self-efficacy, sense of autonomy, community spirit, cooperation, and joy, and led to a feeling of peace."

How the brain responds to nature 

Holli-Anne Passmore, a professor studying the relationship between nature and human wellbeing at the department of psychology at Canada's Concordia University of Edmonton, says time in and with the natural world is beneficial to humans as it can literally give the brain a break from the trappings of fast-paced life. 

From an evolutionary point of view, she says there are two types of attention — or what is known in psychology as hard and soft fascination.  

"A flashing neon sign that you can't ignore reaches out and basically says 'look at me,' whereas things in nature tend to capture your attention, but are not reaching out and shaking you by the shoulders."

Neuroimaging shows that this kind of softer attention requires fewer mental resources, which gives the brain a chance to restore. And that, Passmore says, can have far-reaching impacts.

"One of the things we know is that our brains and our bodies and how we recuperate are so intricately connected. When you're in nature that aspect of giving your brain a bit of a break is going to help," she explained, adding that there is another dimension to recovery.

"Our emotions have an incredible impact on our physical well-being. When you are in a better emotional state, it doesn't matter what kind of injury a person has, your body is going to respond."

How much nature is enough to make a difference?

That chimes with Sarah Allely's story. When she did finally recover, she made a podcast about what she had been through for others who might be in a similar situation. And over the years, she has heard from many who shared her experience. 

Even now that she is better, she still makes a point of spending time in nature, often going to the same place over and again and simply noticing small changes in things like the light, foliage or animals out at a certain time of day. And she sees the positive impact it has on her mood and feelings of well-being.

Passmore says this kind of quality over quantity of time spent with nature is where the real benefits lie, and that her own large-scale studies underscore the far-reaching potential benefits of deliberate observation. 

" Paying attention to the nature in your everyday life and noticing how it makes you feel had this incredibly large boost on different aspects of wellbeing, not just positive emotions, but things like feeling connected to other people, to life in general, awe, a deep gratitude and being profoundly moved."

Allely says a side effect of a journey with nature is the possibility for a healthier relationship with it. "One of the reasons for telling my story," she said, was a hope that "people would be inspired to look after our natural world."

Edited by: Jennifer Collins

This article was adapted from an episode of DW's Living Planet podcast. Find the audio version here.