When you were a kid, did your Mom just tell you to “Go outside and play” like mine did? Turns out, she wasn’t just getting you out of her hair. She was doing something that was good for your health, something more than encouraging you to get some exercise. And now, doctors are doing the same, even for us grownups. Some are now writing prescriptions instructing their patients to spend a specific amount of time outdoors, in nature, each week.
Ecotherapy
It turns out that there are many heath benefits to spending time, not just outdoors, but in a natural setting. Ecotherapy is a newer scientific field that studies the effects of natural settings on our health. Studies comparing brain activity of healthy people after a 90 minute walk in nature, as compared to a similar walk in an urban setting, have shown reduced stress, anxiety and depression. They also found decreased repetitive thoughts, lower blood pressure and decreased levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, that raises blood pressure and cholesterol, causes inflammation and has other detrimental effects when it is elevated too long.
Benefits were noted after about 20 minutes, so each session in natural surroundings is recommended to be at least this long.
What are the benefits?
Exercise
First, there’s the most obvious: exercise. Many of us do something active while we’re outside and away from our entertaining screens. I’m sure you already know the benefits of exercise in improving health and reducing risk of many diseases from heart disease and cancer to the risk of falling, with a long list between these two, not to mention maintaining healthy bones and muscles.
Exercise is important for all ages and levels of fitness. I remember seeing an elderly woman in Spain, walking on the Paseo Maritimo with her walker, enjoying the sunshine and view of the Mediterranean in spite of her level of disability. Even a small amount of movement can maintain or improve your capacity for exercise and ability to function.
Mental health
You might be less aware of the mental health benefits of being outdoors, even if you’re just relaxing on a park bench. Appreciating nature’s beauty distracts us from our worries and even improves depression and anxiety. It’s just plain good for your mental health. I’ve found that a walk on the beach near my home, regardless of the weather, always makes me feel better when I’m upset about something. It even helps make a good mood better than ever!
Interestingly, even bringing the sounds of outdoors to those who cannot get outside is reported to make a difference in brain activity, directing attention outward, distracting focus from worrying about problems. Looking at pictures of nature, especially a favourite spot or a place you’d like to visit, is also helpful in distracting from inward-directed focus that occurs during anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
Immune system
But you may not realize that, when you’re outside in a natural setting, you also expose yourself to a variety of healthy microbes that are different from what are in your home, just by breathing. Some call this “forest bathing” but healthy microbiota exist in any park or garden with plants and trees, not just in large forests. Perhaps a better term is “nature bathing”, immersing yourself in nature.
Spending time outside in various natural settings increases the variety of microbes in our bodies, along with the exposure we choose when eating various fermented foods that contain microbes, like certain cheeses (cheddar, gouda, and mozzarella), yoghurt, kefir, miso, and fermented vegetables or pickles made without vinegar. Microbes we inhale eventually are swallowed and added to the mix. Scientists now recognize that the digestive system is much more than just a way to get nutrients into our bodies. The types and balance of bacteria, fungi and viruses living there (collectively called the microbiome) produce nutrients for us, influence our immune systems and even communicate with our brains.
And we can’t forget about COVID…
These days we have even more reason to spend time outdoors. We’ve learned that improved ventilation and maintaining space from others are important factors in reducing spread of viruses and being outside in fresh air provides ideal ventilation and plenty of space to spread out while still enjoying the company of others. Of course, it will still be a while until crowded venues, like outdoor concerts, are recommended but we’re seeing higher numbers allowed for outdoor activities than for indoor ones because of the infinite “air exchange” nature provides, the natural movement of air that carries away those nasty viruses, if any happen to be present.
So, don’t be surprised if the first prescription your doctor gives for a milder health complaint is a “Park Prescription” with instructions to spend a couple of hours a week at your local park or even just 20 minutes 3 times a week. In fact, the benefits of a Park Prescription could be expected to add to any other treatment you may need to use. If you have other health conditions, your doctor may also have additional advice or cautions as you start your "prescription".
This is a world-wide movement inspired by Healthy Parks Healthy People, an initiative of the National Park Service in the UK and being promoted in Canada by Park Prescriptions, A Prescription for Nature.
You can read more about it below, but why wait for your doctor to tell you to get outside and enjoy nature? After over a year of COVID restrictions we all have at least a little COVID fatigue… the “COVID-osis” I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. Isn’t it great to know that just going outside and absorbing a little nature can get us on the road to a cure!
Note: The above photo is of a little creek flowing into the Saint John River (in the background), on a walking trail near the Princess Margaret Bridge in Fredericton.
References:
Health benefits of nature—Healthy by nature
PaRX-- A Prescription for Nature
11 Probiotic Foods That Are Super Healthy—Healthline
Healthy Parks Healthy People—National Park Service
Sour mood getting you down? Get back to nature—Harvard Health Publishing
Spending time in nature helps mental health—CBC News
