A friendly reminder to get lost in nature!
‘In every walk with nature,
one receives far more than he seeks.’
– John Muir (1838-1914)
Dallas' happiness vs. time spent outdoors.
“There just isn’t enough time in the day.” This is an oft heard justification why many people today can’t seem to find the time to get out and enjoy nature. Whether it’s rushing the kids to school or taking them to their extracurricular activities. Whether its running between office meetings and conference calls or being stuck in traffic between your commute to and from work every day. These things add up and can make it challenging to find the time in our busy schedules to get outside and enjoy the beauty and tranquility that nature has to offer. John Muir never had to walk a mile in our shoes or experience our fast-paced, mile-a-minute society. With a limitless supply of digital information coming at us in a frenetic pace, our time and attention is drawn away from a refreshing experience in the outdoors. How can those of us in the city ever find the time in our busy schedules to get out and find solace in nature?
Many of us might remember in our youth, how a greater portion of our days were spent outside on summer holidays or after school. When we were able to create our own adventures and get ‘lost’ in nature. Nature was more available and had a hold of our passions. As we have become busier and much more digitally interconnected, making the time to grab a few quality moments in nature is a challenging prospect indeed.
Fortunately, I have had the privilege to spend a large portion of my summer working in the outdoors in Alberta and British Columbia, conducting field work with AJM. While being out in nature, I performed work which included conducting nest sweeps, wildlife monitoring and even work which involved the safe capture, processing, and release of the elusive Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis). I can attest to the fact that my joy in nature was significantly impacted every day that I spent in the field. I created a visual for you to illustrate this time working outdoors and its impact on my overall happiness.
Okay, well maybe that’s not actually a measurable representation of my happiness and may just be an image I pulled from Google, but you get the point, that’s how it felt to me! It does not take much research to locate studies that supports my philosophy - time spent in nature provides a much-needed boost to your overall mental well-being and physical health.
In Kaplan and Kaplan’s (1995) book, The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective, Rachel and Stephen Kaplan developed a theory they coined as attentional restoration theory (ART). ART essentially states that people in urban environments are more inclined to focus their attention on overcoming the constant stimulation experienced with living in cities, and that this stress can produce cognitive fatigue over time (Kaplan and Kaplan. 1983). Whereas in a natural environment, we do not have to battle constant stimulation, and therefore are more prone to relax in a natural landscape. By avoiding overstimulation, we are better able to elicit feelings of enjoyment and satisfaction which lead to improvements in one’s cognitive abilities (Kaplan and Kaplan. 1995).
Sunset on the Bow River at a local Calgary Park
Another study suggests a relationship between the benefits of physical activity performed indoors versus the outdoors and found that emotional well-being was significantly increased in nature. (Pasanen et al. 2014). Although a person’s general health was increased both outdoors as well as indoors (Pasanen et al. 2014). Of course, you might want to reconsider exercising outdoors the next time its -31˚C with the windchill in the middle of February, as opposed to indoors!
If your living situation makes it challenging to travel to remote settings to escape the noise and commotion of the city, an urban park might be a great alternative. Another study found significant correlations between sustained improvements of one’s mental health after spending just a few moments each day in local greenspaces (Pearson and Craig, 2014). In fact, the more greenspaces, the happier the residents in the city are likelier to be. In a 2016 study of 44 U.S. cities comparing urban parks, cities which had more expansive and accessible park networks led to improvement in health, wellbeing, and quality of life of individuals in those cities. (Larson et al. 2016). I, for one, enjoy easy access to one of my favorite local parks here in Calgary, especially when shut-in during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Realistically, you don’t need me to remind you of the beauty and benefit of the great outdoors. Just get out and experience a stroll in the outdoors as often as you can, and you will undoubtedly agree with me that you will feel invigorated. Just consider my blog post a friendly reminder to stop the scrolling on your phone or to shut off that program you’re watching on Netflix or Disney+, or any other of the plethora of streaming services that consume your valuable time, and make some time today to take advantage of a walk in nature! You can thank me later.
By: Dallas Bouma, AJM Environmental Scientist
Photos sourced from Dallas Bouma
References:
Free photo: Top view of smiley face and growth chart. Freepik. (2020, November 29). https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/top-view-smiley-face-growth-chart_11383086.htm
Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1995). The experience of Nature: A psychological perspective. Ulrich’s Bookstore.
Larson, L. R., Jennings, V., & Cloutier, S. A. (2016). Public parks and wellbeing in urban areas of the United States. PLOS ONE, 11(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153211
Pasanen, T. P., Tyrväinen, L., & Korpela, K. M. (2014). The relationship between perceived health and physical activity indoors, outdoors in built environments, and outdoors in nature. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 6(3), 324–346. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12031
Pearson, D. G., & Craig, T. (2014, September 28). The great outdoors? exploring the mental health benefits of Natural Environments. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01178/full%C2%A0