By Avery Boulware, Campus Carrier News Editor
The healthiest two months of my life were spent sleeping in spider-infested cabins, swimming in a murky lake and eating a lot of questionable spaghetti. Escaping the stress and responsibilities of college life, I worked as a camp counselor this summer. Though I was covered in mosquito bites and sunburn, I have never felt more at peace. Nature can heal you from the inside out.
You probably won’t be surprised to hear that spending time outdoors is good for you, but you may be surprised to hear why. In terms of physical health, being outside often means exercising. While being active is beneficial, exercising outside is an added bonus. Trail running is significantly more strenuous than running on a treadmill, but you might not even notice the difference. Being outside is a good way to trick your body into exercising more.
Even if you aren’t running a 10K, sitting in the sun can significantly help your health. The disease-fighting powers of vitamin D are indisputable. Harvard Health cited studies linking vitamin D’s protective effects against osteoporosis, cancer, heart attacks and stroke. Of course, sunburn is a valid concern, but according to Harvard Health, we can get all the vitamin D we need by spending 10 to 15 minutes a few days a week in the sun.
Spending time outside heals the mind as well as the body. Time in nature can improve concentration, according to a study done with children with ADHD. Children with attention disorders scored higher on concentration tests after walking in woods or a park than in a neighborhood or urban area.
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last summer looked at nature’s benefits in the realm of mental illness. They specifically investigated brooding, a mental state that often precedes depression and involves ruminating about all the ways our lives are less than fulfilling and all the things wrong with the world.
The study took 38 healthy, working individuals and divided them into two groups. The first group took a 90-minute walk along a busy highway and the second group walked in a quiet, leafy park-like site. The researchers conducted brain scans before and after the walks, studying the blood flow to the subgenual prefrontal cortex, which is often linked to brooding.
After returning from their walks, the first group that walked along the highway had no change in blood flow to this part of the brain, while the second group had less blood flow—in other words, their brains were “quieter.”
Members of the second group also said they were worrying less about things that had previously been on their minds before the walk.
Of course, this can be attributed to both the benefits of physical activity as well as being outside. But I would argue that the two should go hand-in-hand in order to reap maximum benefits.
College adds layers of jobs, assignments and relationships that can pile up quickly. When life is a big messy pile, it’s hard to address one thing at a time. This is when a predisposition for mental illness can snowball into things like anxiety or depression.
As Berry students, we have some excellent tools to combat depression. A minute portion of our 27,000 acres is dedicated to achievement and excellence. The rest is ours to explore and enjoy. So put your phone down for as long as possible. Walk the length of Viking Trail. Sleep under the stars—in designated camping areas, of course. Or don’t, I’m not your mom.
Regardless, do yourself a favor and use the gift of nature that we have been given.