The Many Healing Benefits of Spending Time in Nature
Photo by Boris Smokrovic on Unsplash
I need to get away. The stress and burdens of life are heavy, too heavy. I rent a little cabin in the woods up in the North Sierra Mountains of Spain.
I need a change of scenery.
The first morning, after breakfast, I lace up my hiking boots and trek off into the hills.
The sun warms my skin. The cool breeze rustles my hair. Bubbling water rushes through the ancient aqueduct. I follow its sound and source up the mountain, passing a wild spectacle of bulls, cows, horses, roosters, caterpillars, and soaring birds. Some creatures stir awe and fear in me, others curiosity and wonder. The bright colors of fields of wildflowers burst endlessly before me. Breathtaking! My senses are exploding!
I find a large boulder blanketed in a carpet of dark green moss. It is velvety and invites me to sit, to wait, to be still, to be quiet.
Nature is calling me.
Just yesterday I left the urban setting of my daily life full of work, busyness, schedules, demands, alarms, to-do lists, noise, notifications, and electronic devices.
Today, I sit in a meadow next to a winding brook overlooking a grove of massive oak trees, listening to the braying of horses and the mooing of cows. In the distance, I can see snow-capped mountains. Birds chirp all around me. It’s as if they are singing over me, singing for me.
Yes, even the sight and sound of birds is healing to me.
I’m not sure I would have been aware of how my body, mind, and soul were responding to the healing effects of the birds, and nature in general, if I had not met Jack Bruce.*
Bruce is my coaching client. I have been working with him for the past year, helping him with his book-writing project about birds and well-being.
Bruce’s passion and inspiration on the topic of the healing power and benefits of nature—particularly birds—are contagious and fascinating.
He has been working with his company for the past two decades as a consultant and speaker in the area of health and well-being. An avid birder, Bruce also founded his own organization, WellBirds, where he encourages and educates people on birding, nature, and their health benefits.
What are the Benefits of Nature on our Well-Being?
According to the Mental Health Foundation, “Our relationship with nature—how much we notice, think about and appreciate our natural surroundings—is critical in supporting good mental health and preventing distress.”
What I was experiencing on that hike was real! I was not imagining the benefits of being in nature.
“Nature is an important need for many and vital in keeping us emotionally, psychologically and physically healthy.”
Here are just a few of the positive effects of nature:
Improves your mood
Reduces anxiety and depression
Helps you take time out and feel more relaxed
Improves your physical health
Helps you be more active
Reduces loneliness
Helps you feel more connected to nature
After spending time outdoors this past week, I added a few of my own benefits to this list based on the transformation I was personally experiencing in my body, mind, and heart.
Brings better, restorative sleep
Boosts creativity
Heightens energy
Deepens a connection with the divine
Clears thinking and focus
Increases ease of decisions
Bruce of WellBirds goes on to describe how nature, specifically birding, can even improve our brain health. Bruce introduces us to Dean and Ayesha Sherzi, co-directors of the Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Prevention Program of Loma Linda University. In their book, The Alzheimer’s Solution, they describe the type of activities that lead to successful cognitive aging and brain health. These activities include problem solving, memorizing, processing, and learning new subjects.
Bruce says, “That’s birding! Birding poses a challenge, causes us to learn new words and expressions, and requires focused attention.”
Is it possible that being in contact with nature and little creatures with beaks and wings can improve our brain health, too?
The positive effects of nature on our wellbeing—both physical and mental—are even leading some professional counselors and therapists to take their therapy outside the four walls of their offices and clinics.
“Ecotherapy is a formal type of therapeutic treatment which involves doing outdoor activities in nature.”
This is often a structured therapy session, led by a trained professional, and often done in groups.
Lingering in the Healing Presence
After sitting on that boulder for more than an hour, I don’t want to move. I don’t want to get up from the rock, even if my aging body is aching from the hard surface beneath me. I don’t want to leave the babbling brook. I don’t want to walk away from the chirping birds singing over me. I don’t want to walk down the mountain and back indoors.
I want to linger. I want to wait. I want to sit. I want to be—just be—in the healing presence of nature.
Maybe you can’t get away for a few days in the mountains. But nature is never too far away—it’s just outside your door.
Look around you and consider green spaces like parks, forests, trees, flowers, and indoor plants. Think of blue spaces like beaches, rivers, ponds, fountains, and canals. Think of living creatures like birds, fish, lizards, and insects. They are everywhere—in the sky, in the sea, on the ground, under the ground . . .
Open your eyes. Is there a tree that can provide shade for you to rest? Is there an outdoor café where you can stop to sit for a while or some earth you can stir up with your hands to plant flowers or vegetables? Is there a sandy beach where you could walk or sit and listen to the waves roll in or a balcony from which you can stare up at the sky? Is there a place to exercise outside in the cool morning air or some birds that you can watch fly by and listen to their song?
Is there a boulder, like I found, where you can sit for a while and respond to the invitation of nature calling you?
I stand up, feeling like I have somehow purged and deposited the stress of my mind and the burdens of my heart in the expanse of nature. I feel better, freer, lighter. I feel more grounded, having been in contact with nature and its powerful effects on my five senses. It reminds me of that 5-4-3-2-1 exercise that I often do to calm down.
How can I take care of myself in this way every day, even when I’ve left my little cabin in the mountains and returned to my bustling city life?
It’s easy! I just have to walk out the door and open my eyes and my ears!
*Coaching client gave permission to tell his story and to include his information in this article.
