Study: Watching Nature Videos Can Help Relieve Stress
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Watching Nature Videos Can Help Relieve Stress, Study Finds
July 9, 2026
Andrew Moore
5-min. read
Photo by pressmaster/stock.adobe.com
Key Takeaways
Research from North Carolina State University found that watching nature videos can reduce stress and improve emotional recovery, even without direct exposure to the outdoors.
Participants who viewed forest and stream footage reported better mood and fewer negative emotions than those who watched urban scenes, supporting earlier findings on nature’s calming effects.
The study suggests nature videos may serve as an accessible stress-reduction tool in everyday environments, including homes, offices, schools and healthcare settings.
When stressed, it’s important to find healthy ways to cope. Getting outdoors is a proven way to do so. But not everyone has easy access to nature. That’s where nature videos might help, according to a North Carolina State University professor.
“Research shows that exposure to nature is beneficial, even if that exposure only occurs through a screen. Not everyone has access to natural views from their office, work, bedroom or home, but there are plenty of online videos of natural spaces that can set one at ease,” said Aaron Hipp, a professor of community health and sustainability in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management.
Hipp, who also serves as director of NC State’s Nature and Health Collaborative, co-authored a study examining the stress-reducing effects of nature-based imagery, specifically videos of forests and streams.
The study found that watching nature videos, including those readily available on YouTube, can help people recover from stress more effectively than watching videos of urban environments, adding to growing evidence that nature-based imagery can positively influence mood.
Hipp and collaborators conducted the international, multi-site study to replicate similar findings from a 1991 study led by environmental psychologist Roger Ulrich and researchers at Texas A&M University and the University of Delaware.
In their study, Ulrich and his collaborators demonstrated that viewing nature videos significantly promotes stress recovery, as evidenced by positive changes in mood and anxiety levels and physiological effects such as lower heart rate, muscle tension and blood pressure.
The study remains widely cited by researchers and has paved the way for the global adoption of nature-based imagery in hospitals, schools, offices and other built environments to promote relaxation and reduce stress.
However, because it has been 35 years since the original study was published, Hipp said it was important to replicate and validate its findings using contemporary research methods, given the continued widespread use of nature-based imagery in research and practice, the emergence of new forms of video media and broader changes in society and technology.
Exploring Nature Videos as a Stress-Relief Tool
Hipp and researchers at laboratories across Europe and the United States recruited nearly 1,000 volunteers to watch a stress-inducing video followed by videos of natural and urban environments, allowing the team to compare their emotional and physiological responses.
The researchers had participants begin by watching a 10-minute compilation video of workplace accidents in industrial settings, including incidents involving slips and falls and workers being struck by heavy objects, to raise their stress levels.
Next, the researchers randomly assigned participants to watch one of six 10-minute environmental videos: two showing natural settings — a forest and a stream — and four showing urban environments, including pedestrian areas and traffic scenes.
Throughout the study, Hipp and researchers tracked how participants’ emotional states changed using a questionnaire administered before the stress-inducing video, after the stress video and after the environmental video. The questionnaire measured feelings such as fear, anger, positive emotions, sadness and attentiveness.
Hipp and researchers also used sensors to record participants’ bodily responses such as heart activity and sweating and then compared these measures with the questionnaire results to assess which environments best supported stress recovery.
“Even without being physically present in nature, people experienced small but consistent improvements.”
The stressful video reliably triggered both psychological and physiological stress responses. Participants reported feeling more fear, anger and sadness, along with lower positive mood and reduced attentiveness. They also experienced more sweating, changes in...