Our ancestors were much more in sync with nature, spending most of their time outdoors, eating fresh seasonal foods, rising with the sun and going to sleep at sundown and — despite their lack of access to advanced medical care and pharmaceuticals — they were often happier and hardier than we are today. In modern times, we spend the majority of our time indoors, often facing screens that overstimulate us, our circadian rhythms thrown off by artificial lighting that allow us to stay up later than we should. We become sluggish, restless, anxious and even depressed — disconnected from the natural environment that can rejuvenate us.
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
– John Muir
Thankfully, improving this situation is as simple and easy as increasing our time in a peaceful natural environment.
Getting outdoors more can improve our lives in the following ways…
#1 – Soothing natural environments enhance creativity.
Environment plays a major role in how we think and behave. In one study, two groups of wilderness expedition hikers were given Remote Associates creativity tests used to determine creative potential. One group was tested before their hike and the other group was tested on the fourth day of their hiking trip. Overall, cognitive performance was 50% higher in the group immersed in a natural environment.
“My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature.”
– Claude Monet
#2 – Outdoor exercise is just more enjoyable.
It’s easy to exercise longer when we’re surrounded by beautiful, natural scenery. The variety of outdoor options available such as hiking, biking, kayaking, and swimming benefit a wide range of muscle groups and give us the variety we crave.
“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.”
― Henry David Thoreau
We find that the act of exercise becomes secondary when compared to the joy of the outdoor experience. Nothing is more fun than visiting a new park or campground and exploring new trails and amenities. While we’re out there, we also discover that…
#3 – Getting outside improves our mood.
Both physical activity and sunlight boost serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, giving us a sense of well-being and happiness. The optimal amount of activity required to keep serotonin at beneficial levels is about 3 hours a week.
In a 2015 Stanford University study using brain scans, participants walking for over an hour in a natural setting were found to have decreased negative thoughts, where a walk of the same length in an urban setting showed no mood improvement.
Sunlight can also boost dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain linked to motivation, memory and mood. Lightening our mood can be as easy as taking a half hour walk in our favorite park every day — and even if we overdo it…
#4 – A natural environment can increase our tolerance of pain.
The beauty of nature is therapeutic in many ways, including our tolerance of pain. A Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine clinical trial studied the effect of natural scenery and sounds on pain perception on a group of 120 patients receiving bone marrow biopsies. They found that the patients exposed to nature sounds and scenery during the procedure experienced less pain.
We’ve found this to be true when it comes to arthritis that often appears as we age. We’ll often head down a longer trail that might be best left to younger and more fit hikers. Despite overdoing it on occasion, we wouldn’t trade our longer hikes for more time at the campsite. We take the “move it or lose it” advice for osteoarthritis to heart and do our best to push through the pain in an effort to hold on to our mobility and flexibility as long as possible. That said, the amazing scenery at the parks we spend time in making it easy to do! We might hobble the last mile or so, but we’ve still enjoyed ourselves and reaped the benefits of our activity. And even when we take on more than we should…
5 – Nature can lower our stress.
Numerous studies have shown that being outdoors can reduce blood pressure, lower heart rate, and decrease cortisol (stress hormone) levels.
Nature has a measurable calming effect on us, restoring a sense of peace when we’re overwhelmed by our hectic lives. In a 2013 study, mobile electroencephalography (EEG) recorders were used to collect brain wave pattern data from participants who took a walk through an urban shopping area, a green space path, and then a busy commercial district. Their findings determined that green spaces resulted in calmer “meditative” brain wave readings, reducing mental fatigue caused by hectic environments.
This is a pretty easy experiment to conduct on our own. When modern life starts to wear us down, all we need to do take a walk in a scenic park or plan a camping trip to experience the beneficial effects of nature on our bodies. If you have a FitBit, you can see your heart rate drop as you unwind outdoors. While studies offer documented evidence, this is a benefit we can measure ourselves — and yet another reason so many of us turn to camping as an enjoyable and healthy vacation option.
#6 – Being around certain plants and trees can strengthen our immune system.
Findings suggest that forest environments have a beneficial effect on our immune systems. Scientists believe that phytoncides, an organic compound emitted by plants and trees, increase our levels of white blood cells, helping us fight off infections and diseases.
Phytoncides have antimicrobial properties that help plants fight disease. When we breathe them in, our bodies also increase production of white blood cells that helps us fight infections and disease. In one study, beneficial effects from a 3-day, 2-night stay in the forest lasted for over a month following the trip.
A study published in 2010 evaluated the effect of time spent in the forest on immune function. For a group of Japanese adults, a three-day trip to the forest increased the number of white blood cells in their blood. These levels of white blood cells stayed elevated for more than 30 days after their adventure in the woods. White blood cells are crucial to your immune system. They help your body battle germs by recognizing pathogens and harmful intruders with the help of antibodies.
Another bonus to being outside is absorbing Vitamin D from sunshine. Vitamin D is essential to our bodies, reducing inflammation, maintaining strong bones and strengthening our immune system. Vitamin D deficiency is linked to cardiovascular and other chronic disease in addition to type 2 diabetes and some cancers. The good news is, our skin can actually produce vitamin D when in the sun, using UVB rays to convert cholesterol into Vitamin D3, which is transformed into active vitamin D by our kidneys and liver.
While it’s best to limit sun exposure during mid-day when ultraviolet radiation is the strongest, we can spend those hours enjoying a hike in a shaded area, which provides other benefits. Clothing, windows and sunscreen block UVB rays, but exposing our arms and legs to direct sunlight in the morning and late afternoon a few times a week for about 15 minutes should be enough to make all the vitamin D we need (those who are older or have darker skin may need more exposure).
Another way to improve our health is by getting enough sleep…
#7 – Being in tune with nature improves our sleep.
Circadian rhythms are daily cycles regulated by light and darkness in our environments. Our “biological clocks” – or innate sense of timing – should regulate our circadian rhythms, receiving cues from daylight and temperatures, and determining our sleep patterns. Modern habits, including artificial lighting, can inhibit production and release of melatonin, a hormone that signals when it’s time to sleep and wake.
A 2013 study determined that a week of camping without tech use, rising and heading to bed with the sun, is enough to reset our inner clocks. Even when we’re not camping, limiting screen time helps us sleep better.
For those of us embracing the RV camping lifestyle, there is some good news. The energy efficient light-emitting diode (or LED*) lighting found in most of our campers is the closest artificial lighting comes to natural light which can help us maintain our natural circadian rhythms. However, LEDs are also devoid of near-infrared radiation (generated by the sun or even incandescent bulbs) which is also plays a part in our overall health, so it’s important to limit any unnatural lighting, and to try our best to stay synchronized with our natural surroundings.
* LED lighting with a color rendering index (CRI) value greater than 90 is considered best.
Not long after our first trip in the camper, I bought an LED lamp for my bedside table. I couldn’t stand the overhead lights at the head of our bed for reading. This very practical little lamp offers adjustable brightness in several different modes that simulate natural light. You can even set an auto-timer on it. When we’re on the road, I often just leave it out since it is so light-weight and stable, but it can be folded up to slip in a drawer. This has been one of my favorite RV buys! There is even a USB port on it and it has taken the earthquake-like conditions of trailer travel like a champ.
Simple changes can help us sleep better, which will in turn improve our health. Poor sleep affects our appetite hormone levels and glucose metabolism. It has been associated with inflammation, weight gain and diabetes—while a good night’s sleep can improve our productivity and ability to concentrate. Sleep deficit has other health risk factors such as heart disease, stroke and other chronic diseases. Even a small loss of sleep can negatively affect our immunity.
Studies suggest that 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night is ideal for our health and ability to function well. To achieve this, start winding down about 30 minutes before you go to bed and try to keep a regular sleep schedule. Make sure you get some exercise and sun exposure throughout the day. If you struggle to get a full night’s sleep, try blackout curtains. (You might also consider getting a mattress upgrade if discomfort is keeping you from sleeping well.
Getting enough sleep will improve your physical and mental health and make sure you have enough energy for your coming day!
Inspiring Ways to Reap Both Health & Creative Benefits Outdoors:
- Plein Air Painting
- Walking an Outdoor Art Fair
- Visiting an Outdoor Sculpture Garden
- Journaling on a Hammock in the Sun
- Making a Sun Print (with a Cyanotype or Sunprint Kit and leaves or plant cuttings)
- Whittling a Walking Stick
- Spending Time Outside with a Child on a Messy Art Activity (Finger painting, bubble painting by blowing bubbles in paint, or just drawing and coloring.)
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References
Atchley, Ruth Ann, David L. Strayer, and Paul Atchley. Creativity in the Wild: Improving Creative Reasoning through Immersion in Natural Settings. U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 12 December, 2012. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3520840
Aspinall, P, P. Mavros, R. Coyne, J. Roe. The urban brain: analyzing outdoor physical activity with mobile EEG. British Journal of Sports Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 6 March, 2013. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23467965
Wacker, Matthias and Michael F. Holick. Sunlight and Vitamin D: A global perspective for health. U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 1 January 2013. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3897598
Li, Qing. Effect of forest bathing trips on human immune function. U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, 25 March 2009. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2793341
Bratman, Gregory N., J. Paul Hamilton, Kevin S. Hahn, Gretchen C. Daily, and James J. Gross. Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 29 June, 2015. https://www.pnas.org/content/112/28/8567
Lechtzin, N., AM Busse, MT Smith, S Grossman, S Nesbit, GB Diette. A randomized trial of nature scenery and sounds versus urban scenery and sounds to reduce pain in adults undergoing bone marrow aspirate and biopsy. U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, September 2010. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20799901
Vitamin D Fact Sheet for Consumers, National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-Consumer
Vitamin D and your health: Breaking old rules, raising new hopes. Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School, February, 2007. https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/vitamin-d-and-your-health-breaking-old-rules-raising-new-hopes
Smith, Deborah. Link between cholesterol and vitamin D production identified, UNSW Sydney, Newsroom, 19 April, 2016. https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/link-between-cholesterol-and-vitamin-d-production-identified
Young, Simon N. How to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs, Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience. U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, November 2007. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2077351
Beckman, Danielle and Luis Eduardo Santos. The Importance of Serotonin in Exercise-Induced Adult Neurogenesis. The Journal of Neuroscience, 4 September 2013. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/36/14283
Mercola, Joseph M. How to Achieve Superior Detoxification and Health Benefits With Near-Infrared Light, Mercola.com, 2 September 2018. https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/09/02/near-infrared-light-benefits.aspx
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