Mental Note

Time spent in or around nature is some of the most mentally valuable time you can spend, whether it’s morning coffee outside for a few minutes to allow the sun to guide your circadian rhythm, or taking a walk around the block after a tense phone call. The scale of the outdoors has a way of widening our focus and that soft attention brings perspective. Natural views trigger the release of the happy chemicals serotonin and dopamine while reducing the stress hormone cortisol. Just seven phone-free minutes outside the confines of walls and LED lights can be a wonderful refresher for your mood and your mental capacity.

Nature Actually Heals

Time in nature isn’t just a pleasant idea dreamt up by the tree-huggers among us. Its benefits are statistically remarkable. In hospital studies, post-surgical patients were randomly assigned to available rooms for the duration of their recovery. Rooms along one hallway had a window with views out to green space, while rooms along the other hallway had views of a brick wall. The patients assigned to nature-view rooms consistently recovered faster. While they reported less stress and less pain (which you may think could just be attributed to things being more pleasant), they also objectively healed more quickly and were discharged from the hospital sooner.

If your office or the library you study in has a window, this hack is available to you. Turn toward it. If you walk a treelined path for 15 minutes over your lunch break you’ll get the benefit as well. If you deliberately drive the greener route to where you’re going, you’ll thank yourself. If you walk around the block before going inside for the evening, or right after dinner your nervous system will thank you. You don’t have to wait for the weekend and lose yourself in the woods (though that’s great too), just find a daily habit you’re doing anyway and see if you can add a little nature to it.

Changing of Seasons

As fall weather settles in, it’s natural to get a little more cozy and indoor-minded, but this is actually the perfect time to get outside. Heat and humidity have passed and if you’re lucky they’ve been replaced by fall blooms and changing colors. So feel free to drag out your comfy cable knits, but don’t snuggle up in front of the fire just yet.

If you live in one of the 48 states that observes Daylight Saving Time (coming your way November 1st this year), don’t let the earlier darkness be reason to not get outside. Nature awaits whether the sun is shining or not. While you could shift your regular time outside to morning or lunchtime, also consider that the crisp air and earlier sunsets of winter make for excellent stargazing. So grab a coat and gloves and get outside.

The Wisdom of Children

As I was writing this, I heard some noise outside and went to the window to see what it was. I found two kids, maybe 12 years old, sitting on skateboards, laughing as they rode down our sloped street in the pouring rain and then running back up to the top to repeat. It was so darn wholesome. And I thought in light of this Mental Note “do they have any idea how good that is for them?!” And the answer is yes. They probably don’t know the science or why it works, but they know it feels good because life hasn’t yet caused them to forget. So go spend a few minutes outside just being wholesome. Lose your mind, and find your soul. Go touch grass.

Click here for specific ideas to get you outside and into nature, even briefly.