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by Spektrum der Wissenschaft
What really helps your well-being
21.1.2026
Translation: machine translated
Sport, meditation, forest bathing: Many methods promise wellness for the soul. Which approaches actually work - and why a combination could be particularly effective.
Gentle exercise, mindfulness or gratitude are among the things that noticeably increase well-being. Approaches that combine physical activity and psychological techniques are probably the most effective. This was the result of a study published in the journal «Nature Human Behaviour».
For the study, a team led by psychologist Lowri Wilkie from Swansea University in Wales analysed 183 randomised controlled trials with a total of almost 23,000 employees. These were exclusively adults without diagnosed psychiatric disorders.
The studies included mindfulness-based programmes, compassion and acceptance training, yoga, classic positive psychology approaches such as gratitude exercises and nature-based offerings. The researchers also analysed interventions that combined physical exercise with psychological elements.
Walking and marvelling
These included so-called «Awe Walks», which translates as «awe walks». These are walks with targeted attention focussed on positive or touching impressions.
Mental well-being, measured using established scales on life satisfaction, positive emotions or resilience, served as the central measurement. The decisive factor was how these values changed from the beginning to the end of the intervention - compared to control groups that did nothing to improve their well-being.
The result: well-being improved significantly for almost all measures compared to the control groups. Combined programmes of exercise and psychological techniques such as the «Awe Walks» performed the best. This was followed by yoga, mindfulness, compassion exercises and classic exercise such as stretching or gymnastics, all of which delivered comparable results. Surprisingly, the results for nature-based interventions (e.g. therapeutic gardening, landscape photography or simply spending time in green spaces) were not significantly better than under control conditions. However, the authors attribute this, among other things, to the very different concepts investigated and the small number of studies in this area.
For everyday life, this means that there is no single best way to improve well-being. Instead, many well-known approaches help similarly well. The decisive factor seems to be getting active in the first place - and then sticking with it. After all, programmes lasting several weeks were more effective than very short ones. That's why the path you choose should suit you above all else.
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Original article on Spektrum.de
Header image: Shutterstock / Caterina Trimarchi
Spektrum der Wissenschaft
Wissenschaft aus erster Hand
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