Getting with Nature
Cuz really nature lives inside of you every minute of ever day. If you think about it, humans are just another type of plant. We are forms of life just like a blade of grass that grows in a meadow or like a beautiful flower that has its own unique bloom and fragrance. Sure we are much more complex than plants. But we are not that far away from the basic concept of life. We are born, we grow, we mature, we reproduce and we die. Its the circle of life that connects us all.
So when we take moments of time to be with this natural nature cycle, we when take time our of our day to either appreciate or better yet, be out in it…. that is where we have leaps and bound gains in our health and wellness.
Why (Get in Nature)?
Duh, its good for your health! Seriously, there are some serious health benefits.
Boost Your Mood - Within a matter of minutes of being outdoors, you will experience a shift in mood and emotional well-being [s]. Should you stay longer, a 20 minute park visit can improve life satisfaction 64% (compared to shorter duration visits) [s].
Reduced Anxiety and Depression [s]
Reduce Inflammation [s]
Lower heart rate, HVR, and stress levels, as well as increased moods [s].
90-min walk through a natural environment reported lower levels of rumination / brooding and showed increase brain activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, which becomes deactivated when a person is feeling anxious or depressed [s].
Reduces Stress - Spending 20-30 minutes in nature lowers our stress hormone levels 21-28% [s]. This study found reduced salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase (both reliable markers of stress) after being immersed in a nature setting, these results were independent of any activity they were doing.
Improves Memory - Memory and attention span improve after one hour being outside. Especially walking in nature improved short-term memory by 20% [s].
Helps “reset” our focus and attention and clears brain fog [s].
“Interacting with nature can have similar effects as meditating” [s].
increased willingness to help others and demonstrate more ethical behavior [s].
Increased sense of Gratitude [s]
With all these positive health impacts, clinicians are now referring to this means of treatment as Ecotherapy. aka Nature Therapy. It’s the practice of being in nature to boost growth and healing, especially mental health.
Okay, you’re Sold! You want to do it but…
what to do? How?
Like nature, keep it simple. Humans are always trying to over complicate things. We need to know when the best time is (first thing in the morning), if they can’t do the most beneficial amount of time (120 per week) then they fell like a failure and don’t do it at all. My advice is thing, really and truly there is no wrong way to get in nature. Open the door and step outside (barefoot preferably). Just do the thing. The most important thing is to just get out there.
If you’d like some suggestions of how to make it more enjoyable (less boring), you’ve come to the right place.
Look around - take some time connecting with your sense of sight and witness all the glorious beauty of abundance in front of and totally around you. Look at the tree tops blowing in a breeze, look for some colorful flowers on the ground, watch birds flying or worms crawling or ants marching. Find something that can hold your attention and spend 2-5 minutes admiring what your watching. Take a deep breath. You are there, present in that moment. Another name for this is looking for God’s Art
Listen - sit down, close your eyes and listen to whatever you can hear. A bird chirping, a car vrooming, bugs buzzing, distant water or muffled voices. Listen how far you can hear, listen how quiet you can hear. If you listen long enough maybe you’ll discover the sound of a blade of grass growing.
Feel - This one can be done sitting or standing. Feel your body engaging with nature. The way your skin feels when the sun kisses it, or the wind blows it. How do your feet feel standing or sitting on the earth. What is the temperature (hot, warm, cool, cold), how’s the humidity feel. Just be in a couple moment going along your body (top to bottom) witnessing the feelings.
Smell - Inhale and follow your nose. What does it smell? The grass freshly cut, the flower opening and releasing its scent for any nearby flies. Opening olfactory senses to experience all that nature has to offer.
Get out - Open the door first thing in the morning and stand outside for 5 minutes just looking around. Take your lunch outside instead of eating in front of (insert distraction/entertainment of choice; computer, phone, TV) and while you’re out there stay there, enjoy it. Look around, feel your skin, feel the sun, stay a while. Work can wait. Your time for you can’t. In the evening take a beat to watch the sunset, the beautiful sign that one day is done.
Take a Walk - It could a quick 10-15 minutes walk around the block, neighborhood, building, park, green space but the plan is to have some uninterrupted time outside. For me, I take a walk with my kids after they get home from school to the stop sign and back or after dinner (which also helps to regulate blood glucose levels). I try to do it without a phone (thought I love to snap a quick pic of something beautiful to share).
Try Forest Bathing - aka taking a walk in the woods. This practice is known as shinrin-yoku in Japan allows people to feel refreshed and revitalized. Shinrin means “forest,” and yoku means “bath.” So shinrin-yoku means bathing in the forest atmosphere, or taking in the forest through our senses. This is not exercise, or hiking, or jogging (thought that often happens as a result) the goal is to simply being in nature, connecting with it through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. “Shinrin-yoku is like a bridge. By opening our senses, it bridges the gap between us and the natural world.” To get more clear directions 1. leave your phone/camera in the car 2. walk very slowly and intentionally, let your body guide the way (watching for trees and shrubs) and connect.
The key to unlocking the power of the forest is in the five senses. Let nature enter through your ears, eyes, nose, mouth, hands and feet. Listen to the birds singing and the breeze rustling in the leaves of the trees. Look at the different greens of the trees and the sunlight filtering through the branches. Smell the fragrance of the forest and breathe in the natural aromatherapy of phytoncides. Taste the freshness of the air as you take deep breaths. Place your hands on the trunk of a tree. Dip your fingers or toes in a stream. Lie on the ground. Drink in the flavor of the forest and release your sense of joy and calm. This is your sixth sense, a state of mind. Now you have connected with nature. You have crossed the bridge to happiness.
Walk barefoot - Take off your shoes and walking on the earth. Simple! This act, called “grounding” is a wonderful way to connect with nature AND reduce inflammation, enhance wound healing, support the microbiome, increase white blood cells for a stronger immune system, and even prevent the onset of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. Shoes have created a barrier keeping our bodies from the earth. The sooner we connect and allow the Earth’s energy to flow freely to us, the more peace we can hold.
Eat seasonally - Aligning with nature in your kitchen has a wonderful benefit to keep your immune system balanced by exposing your body to different nutrients that are essential with various seasonal shifts. Plus, when you shop for just in-season produce you are likely shopping from local famers (helping local agriculture), the ingredients are fresher (more nutrient density) and taste better! And when you visit the farmers markets, maybe you have an opportunity to discover new produce that you might not eat otherwise. Like Roasted Fennel, delish!
Our modern convenient lifestyle has taken us so far away from the way our ancestors would curate food and our our bodies were designed to operate. We used to rely on what we could grow and harvest each season, allowing us to be more one with nature. Today we can get whatever produce, available 24/7 in your neighborhood box stores, grocery delivery, and/or home meal kits. This convenience, for alls its positives has a great big negative, it has separated us from from nature and disconnected us from the food we eat on a daily basis.
Bing the Outside Inside - Indoor plants or better yet having an indoor herb garden is a terrific way to supplement your nature exposure. Bonus points if you select a plant that doubles as an air filter. Which I just learned based on “Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research, indoor air is typically 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air. With the EPA also estimating that people spend 90 percent of their time indoors on average, the air can represent a serious health risk.” I can share that every room of my house as at least two potted plants and while the task of watering all those plants can take some time, it also provides me an opportunity to connect with them and give them a little love (cuz they are living beings too). And I know I’m not the only one, in a 2022 survey by trees.com, 50 percent of the 1,250 respondents reported talking to their plants and/or trees. With good reason to, plants don’t try to cut off what you’re saying, argue or talk back with some new teenage attitude. Plants listen and absorb the vibrations we send out and as a result, we feel more at peace.
Maybe all of this is “old news” and you are a well seasoned nature explorer. well then my friend I’ve got some fun for you.
What to do when you’re in nature with kids to keep them entertained (cuz hearing “mom, this is boring" can happen… a lot).
Play Games - My kids and I have crafted several games that we like to play while walking in the woods. One is “Roots, Rocks and Sticks.” The point of the game is while walking along you can only step on either roots, rocks or sticks. If you step on the ground or in the leaves you are OUT! FYI - Theo has the longest record (next to mom). Another variation of this game is Shadow, where you can only step on the shadows cast by the trees. To progress these games you can make up funny sounds to say while you are stepping on the rocks, roots, sticks or shadows. Like r-OOOOOOT, or Sssss-t-ICK. Play around and see what’s fun for you to do.
Venture to New Spaces - You don’t have to walk the same trail over and over, which thought you can notice subtle changes and witness how the seasons really change with time, it could get stale sometimes. Finding new places to explore, new terrain to traverse. Personally, I love using AllTrails. I have found more spots to explore just with this one free app than I ever would have just by trying to search google. You could search in your town or expand your radius to venture to new towns and mountains.
Take a Dip - Whenever you see a water feature, like a stream or pond/lake, take off your shoes and dip your toes in the water. While this is very refreshing on a hot summer day, it is also very connecting to our inner water element which loves for fun and play.
Adventure Together - Nature is always more fun when shared with friends. Either enlist a partner in crime or find a local nature walk. Enjoying nature with other humans is the most basic of primal things that we can do.
Challenge Yourself - Set a seasonal goal and try to hit it. This has a two fold benefit. Not only will you see how far you can hike over a set duration of time but you’ll feel accomplished and so peaceful for having spent that much time in nature! Last summer, I names a family goal to hike 100 miles before school starts. And every time we ventured out I would snap a pic at the trail head then when the hike was over I’d record how far we hiked. Some times they would gruff at the need to go for another walk in nature but I would remind them of the goal we set and how close we are to getting it. At the end of the season we had gone on 25 hikes totaling 100.26 miles! We did repeat some hikes, some hikes were really challenging (Killington!) and no matter what each time we make some really wonderful memories while learning about one another on a deeper level. We each had our favorite way to do the hikes and our own lessons learned along the way. Discussing it after we reached the goal we even came up with our own hiking superlatives. Most likely to get lost, most likely to find the trail, most likely to climb a tree, most likely to jump in the water, most agreeable, most disagreeable, most prepared, most willing to help others, most likely to remove an article of clothing, most likely to find something cool, most likely to make it fun, most likely to bring something to share, best lunch and my favorite, The Best Quote “Life is about being bored and being happy about it” and of course “If you can’t get out of it, get into it!” (check out the slideshow below for all our trailhead shots).
Snack at the Summit - This is really the best thing to do. When you finally reached the top, that destination you’ve been shooting for you share and enjoy a rewarding meal. Maybe its a fun crudites, meats, cheeses and olives. Maybe its a hearty sandwich and chips, maybe its some local blueberries you foraged on the trail…. all are welcome as you enjoy the efforts before the task of traversing the trail back.
