I write a lot about being outside and the things I do outside. And maybe that seems confusing since I also talk a lot about mental health and being a therapist. But what if I told you that there is a TON of research on the affects of nature on mental health?
Well, there is! Researchers have been studying green spaces and blue spaces and how people can utilize them to change and improve their mental health.
Green space vs. Blue space
Green spaces include the green things such as parks, woodlands, and forests and can include the trees lining your street .or the garden in your backyard. Blue spaces include the blue things such as wetlands, rivers, beaches, and canals.
Researchers have even been trying to determine if one is better than the other but I won't get into that in this blog. What I want to focus on is why you should get outside.
An Even Bigger Epidemic: Mental Health
Here's the thing... we are spending more time than ever inside and mental health issues have been skyrocketing. In fact, in 2018, USA Today published an article detailing this generation as the "Indoor Generation" with approximately 90% of people spending 22 hours a day inside. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?
Study after study was done during COVID on the affect of the "stay-at-home" orders and what that did to mental health. Here's a quick snapshot:
60.11% experienced depression
53.09% experienced sleep disturbance
46.91% experienced irritability
48.2% experienced decreased libido
76.12% had sleep disorders
...All from staying inside...
There's an interesting article from Icewear Iceland titled "The Inside Epidemic?" that also has some staggering statistics from Iceland that is worth looking at (I've linked that article below).
We are Outside Less and Less
Here's what I've noticed in my shortish life: kids don't play outside anymore. I remember being a kid and being gone all day long. I was off on my bike, building forts in the woods, finding some sort of thing to get me into trouble. I don't see that today. When my daughter has friends over, we have to force them to go play outside. All they want to do is hang out inside on various electronics talking to each other. We give them walkie talkies (more for my own piece of mind than anything) and tell them to be good human beings and not to come back unless they are hungry or bleeding. And it's a struggle to get that to happen.
Humans have an ancestral desire to connect with nature. Think about it... Our ancestors were outside all the time and many times they were barefoot. They were connecting with their land and the things they had around them. They were foraging for food and not only in proximity to nature but touching it. Their feet were in the grass. Their hands were in the soil. Their minds were focused on what was happening all around them and not looking to the next task at hand.
When did this change? What damage is that doing to us and to our kids? Is it our fault because we forgot how to be outside?
Make a Change
So, how do we change that? The simple answer is to get outside! It's why my family and I enjoy traveling in our van and getting lost in the woods. I would love nothing more than to park in the woods somewhere and go explore.
And why not?!? Look at the benefits being outside gets you:
improved attention
lower stress
better moods
reduced risk of psychiatric disorders
increased empathy
increased cooperation
promotes cognitive development
improves working memory
improves cognitive flexibility
Is this why our kids are suffering from mental health at staggering rates? Because we are forcing them to stay indoors all day at school, only to come home and stay indoors more. I don't know about you but I don't want that for me or my family. I want happiness and health.
Now, I get it. maybe you can't just take off to the woods or to the ocean and forget about your responsibilities (it'd be cool if we could), but we can make an effort every day to be in nature. We can make an effort for that time to be of quality and not necessarily of quantity.
How do we make our time in nature quality? I am so glad you asked!
Get outside every day. Rain, shine, snow, sleet, doesn't matter. Get outside because it is important.
If you can do it barefoot for at least a few minutes, DO IT! Connect with the earth. God created it for humans... take advantage!
Be mindful of your time outside. Remove the distractions. Focus on using your senses to really boost the quality of your experience. Take note of the different colors you see and what it smells like outside. Notice how your feet feel when you are walking to standing still. Find something you can hold or carry or even keep in your pocket throughout the day to bring you back to this moment.
Remember, this change starts with you. Your kids are watching. Even if you don't have kids, they see you and what you do. As adults, we are the ones shaping this next generation. What do we want them to know?
We need to be outside. Bottom line. We need it. We've forgotten how good it feels. We've forgotten the importance of it. Let's take it back.
Last thing I have for you: 1000 hours outside is an initiative to get kids back outside because of how important it really is. And while this is technically for kids, I think adults can benefit too and I encourage you to check it out. I am not affiliated with them at all and in fact, they don't even know I've linked them here. I first heard of them at an outdoor expo over the summer and love their mission. Give it a look and tell me what you think.
How will you get outside today?
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