Article by Johnny Bowden, PhD“Recently, I spent the weekend with my brother and his wife, at their lakeside cabin in the mountains of Massachusetts. I arrived late Friday evening after four days of non-stop meetings in Manhattan. The next morning before anyone was up, I got into a kayak and paddled to the center of the lake, and stopped to catch my breath—not so much from the exercise, but from the spectacle of nature. Gazing at the gently rolling hills that framed the lake, watching the water sparkle as the sun climbed higher in the sky, listening to a chorus of birds playing along with the water lapping against the kayak, I was transfixed. The stress I had carried with me from New York, that unsettled feeling of having to tie up loose ends, and a looming book deadline, all seemed inconsequential. I was surveying the big picture, watching the hills turn from green to blue as the clouds rolled by, breathing in pine and fresh water and honeysuckle, and from my perspective, all was right with the world. It struck me that at that moment that there was no place on earth I would rather have been. That was the power of being totally in the present, and it was exhilarating. I paddled back to shore, with my batteries fully recharged. It was so much like “therapy” that it got me wondering if being outdoors has the same effect on other people.
As it turns out, a British mental health organization has recently coined the term “eco-therapy” to describe what they believe should be a frontline treatment modality for a number of mental health problems. Mind, a non-profit agency that dates back the 1940s, has done a substantial amount of research on the connection between health, well being and mother nature. As they define it, eco-therapy can encompass anything from flying a kite to gardening, to taking regular walks, but the exercise must take place in a “green environment”--in other words, a natural setting, one where you can escape office buildings, traffic, and the concrete jungle of stress and responsibilities. The scientists at Mind believe--with quite a bit of research to back them up--that what they call “green exercise” (namely outdoor activities) have profound mental health benefits. In fact, research dating back to at least the 1980’s demonstrates that exposure to the outdoors can have a remarkable effect on variables ranging from depression to energy to concentration.
In one research study, a walk in a country park was compared with a walk inside a mall. By keeping the amount of walking and the level of intensity constant, researchers could identify whether simply being outdoors had any additional benefit to the exercisers, like increasing their energy, their sense of well-being or their overall mood. The results were dramatic. A whopping 71 percent reported feeling better after the “green walk.” And while half the mall-walkers reported increased feelings of tension and 44 percent reported lower feelings of self-esteem, fully 90 percent of the outdoor exercisers reported increased self-esteem after their country walk, and 71 percent said they felt less tense.
One reason for the healing power of green is what’s called the “restorative effect”. “There are actually two different restorative effects,” said Stephen Kaplan, PhD, of the University of Michigan, and one of the leading researchers in the field. “One is the reduction of stress which can be seen in measurably lower levels of stress hormones like cortisol. The other is recovery from mental fatigue.”
Stress is one of the biggest energy-robbers on the planet. But what to do about it? Sometimes the answer is as simple as opening the front door. At a time when our rural areas represent a smaller proportion of our environment than ever before, and prescription antidepressants represent a multi-billion dollar industry, “green activities” may be the ultimate definition of a “natural” cure for low energy.
In a second similar study, 94 percent of subjects reported that “green activities” had benefited their mental health, including generating the feeling of lifted depression. Ninety percent felt it was the combination of exercise together with nature that was responsible for the effect. Typical comments included: “I feel better about myself and have a sense of achievement." and “I am more relaxed, have better focus of mind, greater coordination and greater self-esteem.”
The research is clear--green is golden, and nature lifts your mood as it decreases stress.”
Jonny Bowden, PhD, is a best-selling author, sought after speaker and a nationally-recognized expert in nutrition, weight-loss and fitness. This article was adapted from The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy.
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