Take a hike if you feel sad, anxious, or exhausted. Scientific studies show being outdoors lifts our mood, steadies our nerves, energizes us, and boosts our mental and physical health.
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“Being outdoors makes us feel better,” Pareen Sehat, a registered clinical counselor and certified mental health professional, said. “Eco-therapy, also known as nature therapy, stems from the belief that each individual is part of the web of life and is not separate from the environment.”
See also: What is eco-anxiety? How climate change impacts mental health
“Being in nature heals and improves our mental health,” she said. Sehat believes nature is so powerful that spending a few minutes each day thinking about or meditating on one aspect found in nature brings us joy. “All you have to do is identify something in nature that attracts you,” she said. “Then, spend a few minutes thinking about how this aspect of nature relates to you and what you can learn from it. It brings a calming effect and helps you become one with nature. Surrounded by nature, your brain releases hormones such as dopamine and serotonin, which can lower stress levels.”
Time in nature improves overall wellbeing
Amanda Stemen, a licensed therapist and owner of Fundamental Growth, agrees. The tagline on her website says, “Think outside the therapist’s couch.” It’s apropos because therapy sessions are outdoors. She and her clients either hike or sit and talk in areas surrounded by trees. Sessions are tailored to her clients’ needs, “and overall I use the natural world to help them become more mindful and present,” she said. “It’s easier for our brains to do that in nature.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, spending time outdoors improves overall health and wellness. Another study found walking in the woods strengthens our memory and eases depression; just 20 minutes each day eases joint pain and boosts immunity.
“There is often a lot of existential exploration around how the natural world is full of metaphors for our own inner struggles, challenges with our outer world, spirituality, and the realization of how interconnected we are,” Stemen said. Being in nature, “puts things into greater perspective and helps clients feel less alone and more empowered.”
According to Stemen, “We feel less stress after spending time outdoors. Combine this with talk therapy and those benefits increase. When our environment is polluted, our physical and mental health suffer.”
Linking the planet’s health to our well-being
Breathing in dirty air, drinking unclean water, and other life stressors are linked to many physical and mental illnesses. We can only truly heal and maintain health when we also care for our planet and its natural resources. So caring for our environment is also caring for ourselves.
Amanda Stemen (Fundamental Growth)
Being outdoors opens our awareness of the space around us. It makes us think about our health and the health of the planet. Both Sehat and Stemen clearly see how it’s all interconnected.
Feeling your feet on the ground, watching the sun rise and set, studying the shapes in the clouds, and swimming in a river, lake, stream, or ocean brings us closer to Mother Nature. Even walking outdoors after the first snowstorm and listening to the soft crunchy sounds underfoot lets us enjoy the moment.
See also: Ski resorts concerned about rising temperatures
Don’t let the cold stop you
Exercising outdoors in winter has many benefits. Try taking a brisk 10-minute walk outside. The National Personal Training Institute found exercising in winter:
- Elevates your mood due to low humidity.
- Burns more calories because your body works harder to regulate its core temperature.
- Builds a stronger heart, lungs, and circulatory system thanks to your body working harder in the cold.
- Provides you with needed vitamin D from the sun.
Ways to connect with nature
The opportunities to commune with nature are endless—even if you live in a large city. You can:
- Go camping.
- Find a nearby park to sit, read, or walk in.
- Go snowshoeing or cross-country skiing.
- Drive to a beach off-season and walk along the shore.
- Ride your bicycle.
- Volunteer to be part of a community garden.
- Take an outdoor meditation or yoga class.
- Go horseback riding.
- Enjoy a picnic lunch in a park.
Stemen scouts for quiet places. “Large parks with hiking trails makes it easier to be away from other park goers,” she said. “Even a smaller park can lend itself to eco-therapy as long as it isn’t too busy.”
Look up
The late great English theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking told us to “Look up at the stars, not down at our feet, and try to make sense of what you see and wonder about.” He knew that looking at the stars was good for our mental health. Paul Piff, Ph.D., researcher, at the University of California, Irvine, found people who stargazed and those who looked up at trees felt a sense of awe.
“It caused individuals to feel less entitled, less selfish, and to behave in more generous and helpful way.”