Wilderness Connection

“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat,”

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Humans spend an extraordinary amount of time indoors, despite being innately, intrinsically linked to the great outdoors. Millions have learned to thrive in urban environments, though I can’t imagine how. It turns out, research studies tend to agree.

Study after study is revealing an indoor life leads to more depression and physical ailments. They are also building evidence that ‘nature deficit disorder’ is real and curing it can alleviate much of what ails us. The list of health improvements gained by time outside is long.

It doesn’t have to be huge excursions into the wild. Things as simple as sitting on a porch or caring for a houseplant are touches with the natural world. Benefits delivered by spending time connected to nature include stronger immunity and improvements in depression.

These occur when the body gets optimum levels of Vitamin D. Supplements of this vital hormone can work, but good old sunshine and eating foods high in D deliver the best doses. Here’s a great article by Dr. Mark Hyman on how best to incorporate D into your life.

Vitamin D isn’t the only magic bullet delivered by nature. Any amount of time outdoors has been shown to improve a few health markers. Dr. Frances Kuo published an abstract in 2013 that asked many questions about how much nature is enough. Her answer was “The evidence to date suggests, broadly, that total exposure is important; all forms and quantities of exposure are helpful; and the greener the better.”

Time spent completely submersed in a natural and green environment boosts the health in many ways. Japan is the birthplace of something they call shinrin-yoku, or as we know it – forest-bathing. Forest bathing isn’t what you may picture. It’s simply connecting with and being still in a wooded area. Tracking biometrics of the visitors reveals lower blood pressure and reduction in cortisol levels.

Cortisol is that crazy little stress hormone we need when our nervous system wigs out. It’s the hormone that triggers a ‘fight, flight or freeze response’. Limited doses can keep us from danger or give us additional strength to carry through a catastrophe. If continually produced, though, cortisol throws kinks into our metabolic processes. Incidentally, there’s a growing body of research that suggests stress is the gateway to all disease.

Reducing stress puts cortisol levels in a healthy range. Bathing among trees a great way to do just that. However you choose connect with the natural, it’s a safe bet that your whole body will benefit from it.