Get Outside

Most people easily recognize the physical benefits of time spent outdoors including vitamin D, fresh air and good exercise. It is even natural to expect positive emotional effects in getting outside. A downcast heart can be cheered by sunshine and the singing of birds, the wind on your face can help you feel renewed, and a quiet walk in the woods can bring some peace to your day.

It is also very interesting to realize the mental wellness that can transpire from a good session in nature. A hike up a mountain can clear your head as well as your lungs. Focusing on a fast mountain bike descent gives your brain no time to worry or make lists or obsess – it’s real, raw and basic (survival, sometimes)! Even just sitting quietly in a field, looking up at the sky and appreciating the natural environment that surrounds you, can restore some mindfulness and needed perspectives to a busy day.

The book Your Brain on Nature by Eva M. Selhub and Alan C. Logan is full of enlightening research on the many ways our brains benefit from being exposed to natural surroundings. It really shouldn’t be a surprise. In my opinion, I don’t believe we were created to exist indoors. The book references Dr. Stephen Kaplan, a psychologist who spoke of “directed attention fatigue,” a temporary cognitive state created in response to the modern urban world which demands enormous mental energy with its visual, auditory, and informational distractions. Kaplan hypothesized that “the mental fatigue induced by applying the brakes in the brain as it accelerates through the non-fascinating demands of the modern world could be remedied by environmental settings that are involuntarily fascinating, effortlessly engaging the inhabitants.” He proposed the “Attention Restoration Theory,” which suggests that “nature experiences have the ability to promote a sense of cognitive clarity wherein there is an absence of confusion.”

So, turn off the TV, leave the tablets and iPhones in the room and get outdoors. Get away from traffic lights and billboards, car horns and the countless beeps, rings and buzzes of modern technology, at least for a time. I think you will find you want to make a practice of it!

Joy Hopkins, Adventure Manager

Most people easily recognize the physical benefits of time spent outdoors including vitamin D, fresh air and good exercise. It is even natural to expect positive emotional effects in getting outside. A downcast heart can be cheered by sunshine and the singing of birds, the wind on your face can help you feel renewed, and a quiet walk in the woods can bring some peace to your day.

It is also very interesting to realize the mental wellness that can transpire from a good session in nature. A hike up a mountain can clear your head as well as your lungs. Focusing on a fast mountain bike descent gives your brain no time to worry or make lists or obsess – it’s real, raw and basic (survival, sometimes)! Even just sitting quietly in a field, looking up at the sky and appreciating the natural environment that surrounds you, can restore some mindfulness and needed perspectives to a busy day.

The book Your Brain on Nature by Eva M. Selhub and Alan C. Logan is full of enlightening research on the many ways our brains benefit from being exposed to natural surroundings. It really shouldn’t be a surprise. In my opinion, I don’t believe we were created to exist indoors. The book references Dr. Stephen Kaplan, a psychologist who spoke of “directed attention fatigue,” a temporary cognitive state created in response to the modern urban world which demands enormous mental energy with its visual, auditory, and informational distractions. Kaplan hypothesized that “the mental fatigue induced by applying the brakes in the brain as it accelerates through the non-fascinating demands of the modern world could be remedied by environmental settings that are involuntarily fascinating, effortlessly engaging the inhabitants.” He proposed the “Attention Restoration Theory,” which suggests that “nature experiences have the ability to promote a sense of cognitive clarity wherein there is an absence of confusion.”

So, turn off the TV, leave the tablets and iPhones in the room and get outdoors. Get away from traffic lights and billboards, car horns and the countless beeps, rings and buzzes of modern technology, at least for a time. I think you will find you want to make a practice of it!

Joy Hopkins, Adventure Manager