Week #10 Healthy Habits Challenge – Spend Time in Nature

Welcome to Week #10 of the 12-Week Healthy Habits Challenge!

Happy March!

We are at the beginning of Spring (here at the Northern Hemisphere). With weather becoming warmer and daylight becoming longer, it is a good time to go outdoor and spend more time in nature.

Scientific research has shown that spending quality time and connecting with nature can improve our health and well-being, both mentally and physically.

Ecotherapy or nature therapy is an emerging therapeutic approach involving activities outdoor in nature that promote healing and well-being.

Below is a summary of the health benefits of routine exposure to nature.

Mental health benefits:

• Increase positive mental states including feelings of friendliness, affection, joy and playfulness, and reduce feelings of aggression and anger.
• Reduce stress and anxiety.
• Reduce risk of mental illness.
• Reduce symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
• Improve mood, sleep, cognition and engagement among dementia patients.

Physical health benefits:

• Improve post-operation recovery time.
• Support pain management by increasing pain tolerance and reducing dosage of pain medication.
• Reduce resting heart rate and blood pressure, and reduce risk of heart disease.
• Reduce risk of obesity.
• Boost immune function.
• Improve sleep quality.
• Regulate and reduce stress hormone (cortisol) levels, thus reducing the risk of diseases/disorders associated with chronic stress (or chronically elevated cortisol levels) including heart disease, digestive or GI issues, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, suppressed immune function, chronic pain, etc. (See more details in my previous article Why Stress is the Culprit, and also the Week #9 Healthy Habits Challenge – Manage Stress, for Your Mental & Physical Well-being.)
• Increase exposure to natural sunlight, thus vitamin D levels in the body, which in turn promote bone health and immune health, and reduce the risks of certain types of cancer and other chronic diseases (including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, certain autoimmune diseases).
• Increase exposure to natural daylight, which helps to align the body’s circadian rhythm (24-hour biological clock) with the natural light-dark condition. Note that disruption and dysregulation of the circadian rhythm can contribute to many chronic diseases/disorders. (See more details on tips to nurture our natural biological clock in my previous article: Rest, Relax and Nurture Your Biological Clock This Holiday Season.)

For more details and the relevant scientific references on the above-described health benefits, please check out my previous article: Embrace the Nature … It is Good for You!

Continue reading the next section for some tips on spending quality time in nature.

Tips to Spend Quality Time in Nature

To reap the health benefits of being in nature, you just have to go outdoor and be in nature as much as you can and when weather permits.

Here are some tips:

1. Choose some outdoor activities in nature that you enjoy doing, activities that you will want to keep coming back to. Examples include gardening or simply spending time/ relaxing in your backyard garden, visiting nearby city gardens, farm visit/pick your own produce, hiking, camping, going for a walk/running/biking in neighborhood parks or nature trails, etc.
2. Do your preferred physical exercise outdoor in nature rather than inside the gym, e.g., walk, run or bike in the park, doing yoga in the park, etc.
3. Target to spend time regularly outdoor in nature even if it is for a short duration (e.g., daily after lunch/dinner walk at neighborhood park) rather than aiming for ‘all or nothing’. Research has shown that spending 20-30 minutes in nature was effective in reducing stress as shown by the drop in stress hormone (cortisol) levels.¹
4. Choose vacation destinations that involve nature, e.g., waterfront, woods, forest, mountain, wildlife, state/national parks, or places that have lots of greenery or plants, etc.
5. When you are in nature, be fully present and connect with nature through all your senses – pay attention and be conscious of the scenery in front of you, the sound you hear, the feeling on your skin from the sun or breeze, the scent you smell, and even the taste if you are eating fruits/vegetables fresh from the garden or farm. Put aside digital devices or other distraction as much as possible.

Join me for this week’s challenge, go out and embrace what nature has to offer!

Related Articles

Why Stress is the Culprit

Week #9 Healthy Habits Challenge – Manage Stress, for Your Mental & Physical Well-being

Rest, Relax and Nurture Your Biological Clock This Holiday Season

Embrace the Nature … It is Good for You!

References

1. Hunter MR, Gillespie BW, Chen SY. Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life Based on Salivary Biomarkers. Front Psychol. 2019;10:722. Published 2019 Apr 4. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00722