Dear All, This Wednesday (4pm) we have a seminar led by Nick Gray (University of Stirling) about his PhD study entitled "Hug a Tree Study: Nature, meditation, loneliness and wellbeing" - abstract below. The meeting will be held in person/hybrid in the Psychology Common Room. To those joining online: please find a link to the meeting below. Abstract Have you ever hugged a tree or meditated to feel better? Evidence from shinrin-yoku (forest bathing), affectionate touch, and human-nature based relationships suggests tree hugging might improve loneliness and wellbeing. We will follow the story of how a simple idea became a quirky experiment taking place on three continents. Participants’ loneliness, wellbeing, and nature connectedness were measured before and after a short intervention. Between measurements, participants either hugged a tree, hugged a pole, stood under a tree, or sat in a lab while meditating. There were significant improvements from pre- to post intervention in loneliness, wellbeing, and nature connectedness. But the changes were not always in the expected condition. Link to the meeting: BERG research seminars | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fmeet%2F3816460052135%3Fp%3DxsEIefROgXSXlZHxc0&data=05%7C02%7Cpawel.fedurek%40stir.ac.uk%7Cc5af488d315a43b39e2d08de83358e34%7C4e8d09f7cc794ccb9149a4238dd17422%7C0%7C0%7C639092463212179018%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=kmYNJta6BHr9jYZanwe8MQxO5Rt3unfP6OlACegt%2FfQ%3D&reserved=0<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fmeet%2F3816460052135%3Fp%3DxsEIefROgXSXlZHxc0&data=05%7C02%7Cpawel.fedurek%40stir.ac.uk%7Cc5af488d315a43b39e2d08de83358e34%7C4e8d09f7cc794ccb9149a4238dd17422%7C0%7C0%7C639092463212221033%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=uTNvPVJV%2BwIdswWuJUKdh4sGiGO0UtNAZ5Eb8MrbQ5w%3D&reserved=0<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fmeet%2F3816460052135%3Fp%3DxsEIefROgXSXlZHxc0&data=05%7C02%7Cpawel.fedurek%40stir.ac.uk%7Cc5af488d315a43b39e2d08de83358e34%7C4e8d09f7cc794ccb9149a4238dd17422%7C0%7C0%7C639092463212257873%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=y0s52IpXIm6E9fxBhLzT5cEBnc%2FTJj1uV%2Bzs6zaDufo%3D&reserved=0<https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/3816460052135?p=xsEIefROgXSXlZHxc0>>>> Best wishes, Pawel ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Senior Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) School of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK @pawel-fedurek<https://bsky.app/profile/pawel-fedurek.bsky.social> @berg-stirling<https://bsky.app/profile/berg-stirling.bsky.social> Staff webpage<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG webpage<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/research-groups/behaviour-and-evolution-research-group/> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159