In nature your brain enters a mode Hopman called “soft fascination.” It’s similar to unfocused mode—but with one key difference. “Instead of mind-wandering and lightly focusing inwardly, you’re lightly focusing outwardly on the nature around you,” she said. “You’re taking in all these things in the outside world that are nice to look at. But they’re not overwhelming. Your attention network is turned down, but you’re aware of the outside world.”
