Most people find nature and being outside to be soothing and a pleasure activity. Well science agrees that going outside or even looking outside can help a person destress. In an article called How Trees calm us, they did a study on people in hospitals. Some people had a view of a forest and some had a view that faced the wall. The people who had a view of the forest left the hospital a day sooner (1). This gives the consensus that going outside is beneficial to humans and helps us connect to nature. I believe that being outside can help your mood, your health, and your mentality.
Being nature helps better your mood. Many people who are outside frequently are in better moods and clearer mindsets than those who aren’t. Many people like to go outside to destress or maybe to help clear a clouded mind. I personally have never met someone who has come back from a walk or hike in a bad mood, normally they come back happier. In one of the articles we read a doctor talks about a friend he had a friend who had tourettes and when he was in the city he had hundreds of ticks a day, but while on a hike he had minimal ticks (2). This could be due to the overwhelmingness of the city they lived in compared to the remoteness and calmness of the outdoors. The physical change in this person was in relation to mental aspect. Being outdoors was so calming to this person it temporarily relieved symptoms of his disease.
Being in nature can also improve our moods so well, we become nicer to others. Due to the fact that being outside reduces feelings of anger, fear, and stress (3). We saw this in a video in class where they showed nature photos to people who were in prison. They felt calmer after looking at these photos over time. Also in another study in Chicago (3). Tenants who had greenery around their building were kinder to their neighbors and knew more people in their building. This is due to the fact that nature is a natural mood booster.
Nature can help your physical health. People who enjoy going outside also enjoy hiking, walking, playing sports, or doing other activities outdoors. Being outdoors, especially exercising outdoors, can help get clean oxygen to your brain which will help it function and perform better. Also benefits like, getting vitamin D from the sun, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension (3). Other than that though, the doctor talks about his patients with neurological problems. The doctor from one of the articles claims that a woman with parkisons will freeze up as a symptom of the disease, but while in the garden she is lively and mobile (2). This may have to do with the science of being outside, like more oxygen getting to your brain, or this could be because of the mental aspect. Either way what being outdoors can do for your physical health is amazing.
Being outside teaches us to respect nature. We all have memories of being outside as a child which I feel like helped all of us care about it in a way newer generations won’t be able to. Being outside as a child taught me to respect the outdoors. I remember holding a red spotted newt as a child and it ended up dying. I was so upset over it and then I learned that the oils from your hands will kill them, I was 5 and devastated. I never held a newt after that. I learned to respect the newts and I saw them all the time but I never touched them. I wouldn’t have learned about newts if I didn’t go outside. I wouldn’t have learned to respect all the other life I was experiencing. When I killed a butterfly, I stopped catching them. When lightning bugs died in a jar, I stopped capturing them. When we hurt nature, it encourages us to learn how to protect it. I promise I wasn’t a monster as a kid. I was just curious, curious about life, curious about the beauty it gave us. That’s why when I hurt the beauty, I learned to not hurt it.
Being outside helps us connect to nature, sometimes that ends up benefiting humans, sometimes it benefits nature. Depends on how you look at it. Depends on what you do with it. Many people take going outside for granted. There is so much beauty around us it’s hard to not take the time to sit down and enjoy it. Some treat it as though it is a chore and claim they don’t have time for hiking or other outdoor activities. But many people and scientists believe that it is beneficial. It is especially beneficial to those who work long hour office jobs who claim to not have the time for it.
I encourage everyone to spend more time outside, I probably should too. It really does feel amazing to take a hike in the morning on a weekend and then go home, shower, and feel ready to brave the day. It will also help your health and connection to nature.
Sources
1. Hutchinson, A. (2015, July 23). How Trees Calm Us Down. Retrieved on March 3, 2020 from http://NewYorker.com
2. Sacks, O. (2019, April 18). Opinion Oliver Sacks: The Healing Power of Gardens.
3. How Does Nature Impact Our Wellbeing. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2020, from Taking Charge Of Your
Wellbeing website: https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/how-does-nature-impact-our-wellbeing
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