Recently, I integrated a 45-50 minute walk into my daily schedule. And if it’s a particularly stressful day, I sometimes walk two or more times in a day. My primary motivation for starting this activity was to get some exercise and a change of scenery from being at my desk. But quickly, I began to experience benefits well beyond what I have ever experienced during my daily gym visits. Specifically, what I noticed was that I am:
Happier and more optimistic
More energized
More focused
It seems that my experience is very much in alignment with the research on the psychological benefits of spending time in natural environments. For example, research shows that these benefits include reduced stress (Neuvonen & Korpela, 2017), lower fatigue (Korpela et al., 2010), better mood (Passmore & Howell, 2014), and greater happiness (MacKerron & Mourato, 2013).
Research also shows that it matters how much time we spend outdoors. Very simply, when we are in nature for longer and longer periods of time, the greater the reduction we will see in our levels of stress and anxiety and mood improvement (Cohen-Cline et al., 2015). However, if we spend this time with our attention focused on our phone or locked inside of our heads, we are unlikely to experience the full benefit of being in nature.
We encourage you to find time to experience nature in a different way – that is, fully focused in the present by engaging your senses. If you’d like to learn how to enhance your experience outdoors, take a few minutes to listen to the attached exercise for ideas on how you can build the skills needed to fully benefit from this activity.
For those of you who do not have access to nature at a safe distance from others, research also shows that visualizing an experience in nature will provide many of the same psychological benefits of being outside. If this appeals to you, we invite you to try the following two exercises:
In summary, I really shouldn’t have been surprised by my experience of being outdoors. After all, I’ve seen the research on the strong linkage between well-being and nature. But what I was surprised by was the magnitude of the change. Being in the fresh air, completely absorbed in my surroundings, and not thinking but experiencing, was a wonderful addition to my daily reflective practice. Why not give it a try?
References
Capaldi, C.A., Passmore, H.A., Nisbet, E.K., Zelenski, J.M., Dopko, R.L., 2015. Flourishing in nature: a review of the benefits of connecting with nature and its application as a wellbeing intervention. International Journal of Wellbeing, 5 (4), 1–16.
Cohen-Cline, H.; Turkheimer, E.; Duncan, G.E. (2015). Access to green space, physical activity and mental health: A twin study. J. Epidemiol. Community Health, 69, 523–529.
Sato, I., Jose, P. E., & Conner, T. S. (2017). Savoring mediates the effect of nature on positive affect. International Journal of Wellbeing, 8(1), 18-33. doi:10.5502/ijw.v8i1.621.