It’s generally known that a healthy lifestyle is earmarked by healthy eating, exercise, and taking care of our bodies, but did you know that one thing frequently over-looked, is the one thing that can affect our overall well-being? Caring for our mind, soul, and spirit is essential. This article will talk about five ways we can nurture your inner-man and your physical body, through time spent in nature.
The Healing Benefits of Nature
The evidence for the healing benefits of nature is solid, with studies and reports coming from reputable and well-known organizations. For example, the University of Ohio published an article entitled, “The Science of the Healing Power of Nature”. Their study of 20K people found that those who spend at least 120 minutes per week in nature were more likely to report better health and well-being. Today, it’s common to receive a prescription for “time in nature” for recovery and healing from practicing physicians.
Another article by Time Magazine entitled, “The Healing Powers of Nature”, shares that “Being active in nature can help fight chronic diseases, relieve stress and depression, promote faster healing, stronger immune systems, and more.” The article reveals that new research is showing why this is true: contact with nature affects us mentally and physically, right down to our cells.
I find it interesting that studies show how nature affects us right down to our cells! This is where our DNA, the language of God, lives. I believe it’s another amazing design by our Creator and explains how we can connect so intimately with creation. Science can study and document the technical details, but I believe it touches us on an even deeper level.
Adding Nature to our Daily Lives
So now that we are familiar with the evidence and benefits of how nature can help with our healthy lifestyle, how do we incorporate it into our everyday lives? Here are some practical examples for you to consider.
1. Morning Outdoor Rituals
Our modern society has gotten so far away from time in nature that we don’t realize how much we are missing in having the benefits of nature touching our lives. The article quoted above says if we spend 120 minutes (that’s only 17 minutes a day) in nature, it will improve our health. It’s like any other routine we do for a healthy lifestyle—it has to be intentional to get the benefits.
Many people already have a walking or jogging routine incorporated into their daily regime, but some of us, especially the elderly or handicapped, can’t do that. But we don’t need anything that rigorous for it to be helpful. What we can do is simply enjoy a few minutes of nature in our own backyards or balconies. How about having your morning coffee on the back porch, taking 15 minutes to weed or water the garden, walk by the flower beds, or just sit in the cool morning air before you start your day? In our fast-paced world, we tend to feel we don’t have time for these things, but I promised you that if you make time for it, you will be rewarded with clarity and calmness to start your day. Simply stepping outside to look at the sky and listen for the bird song for a few minutes is refreshing.
I live in a pine forest, and on cold winter days I will sometimes just stand by the window and admire the trees and wildlife for a bit of morning nature. Think about what is easy and accessible and try it for a of couple weeks. I think you’ll start to look forward to these minutes, and not want to miss them. For me, it’s like a few moments of “me & God” time.
2. Mid-day / Workday Nature Meditations
Whether you work or are retired, taking a 2-minute meditation time in nature in the middle of your day is an easy way to add to the ‘nature’ quotient we are adding to our routines. For me the meditation is a quiet prayer time in the outdoors to refresh and realign myself to what is really important. It’s helpful to release our tensions to a God that cares and allows nature to remind us of the beauty around us. Don’t forget that even the images of nature can bring us to the beautiful and calming places of the world for a few minutes. A nature screen saver on your computer is a bonus. I like to have the nature images on my desktop switch every week and get inspired to see them on my screen during the day. If you go to a workplace, your break time can be a walk around the building or standing under a tree in the parking lot! It’s a simple thing that can reap big benefits.
I am semi-retired and work from home. I have a perimeter trail around my property that is a 10-minute walk in the trees. It’s especially helpful and mind-clearing to do that walk when a technical work problem is perplexing or frustrating me. Sometimes it’s good to step away to get clarity. But even if you aren’t stressed, this practice of a couple minutes in nature in the middle of your day is restorative.
3. Nature Documentaries to End Your Day
Many of us have some TV screen time to relax and help us to turn off the mental churning from the busy day. Although too much screen time is not good, the right content at the right time can be helpful.
Studies have shown that even images of nature, as opposed to images of city life, can be calming and de-stressing. Obviously, watching an intense police detective drama, news or political shows at the end of the day is not going to help you wind down for sleep. Although I enjoy a good story, I make an effort to find a nature show to watch for 15 to 30 minutes before retiring to let go of any residual stress. Animal shows, aerial tours of the remote parts of the world, or anything nature related really helps to relax me. Instead of staying alert to not miss the story line of a show, it allows me to not have to think at all, and before I know it, I’m drowsing off and ready for a good night’s sleep.
4. Weekend or Day Trip Nature Sabbaticals
Taking intentional time away from the city to explore nature is a wonderful way to balance our life’s busy-ness. While I don’t get to do this every weekend, one of my favorite things is going somewhere for an over-night stay in a cabin in the woods or a hotel near a national park. The time is spent writing books and journaling, or simply enjoying some quiet moments while walking or hiking in beautiful, natural settings. I use the time to write books and journal, or just to have some quiet time and do some walking/hiking in beautiful nature places. These are called sabbaticals because the time is planned to be quiet and contemplative. I don’t bring my toys and friends and have an itinerary that keeps me busy every minute of the day. Those weekends can be fun too, but we tend to over-load ourselves with agendas, even in our free time, and God designed us to need some down time too. Every so often, it will do your soul good to take a sabbatical.
If you can’t do an over-night, a drive in the country on a new road or to a favorite nature place for the day is also a great way to have some of that downtime. Pack a lunch and a couple camp chairs, and share this time with a friend or spouse. I like to find the hidden spots next to a creek, or a hill with a view, and then get the lunch and chairs out for a date with nature. Enjoy the meal and linger in the outdoors for a while.
One thing I like to do to really get in touch with nature in these moments is to take off my shoes and dip my feet in the water or feel the grass under my feet. There is a thing called “grounding” that happens when we actually touch the earth and get grounded electrically, which is also beneficial to our health and well-being. Every living thing has energy, and when we physically touch the earth, we realign our energy to the Earth’s. See footnotes for a link to more information on this “Bioenergetics” concept.
5. Camping or Vacationing in Nature
Similar to the weekend or day trip sabbatical, taking a full week-long vacation in nature is an immersive way to get that healing time in nature. I’m talking about healing of the mind, body, and soul. Think about changing the family vacation from a Disneyland experience to a nature discovery journey once in a while.
Most families like to camp, but I’ve met a surprising number of people who have never done it or never enjoyed it. For me, there is something so basic to our humanness in waking up in nature and seeing the sunrise or sunset in the great outdoors that we can’t find anywhere else.
It might be too much work for some folks, and I understand that. Today, camping has become more like “glamping” with all the comforts of home in an RV with internet, cable TV and microwaves. This is not the best version of what I’m referring to here, but for some, it’s the best they can do, and it’s still a worthy get-away, as long as you do spend some time in nature itself. We do what we can, and getting away from it all in some form or another to get out into nature is good for the soul.
Exploring national parks on a road trip with hotel stays is also an acceptable way to immerse yourself into nature. The joy of exploring and hiking nature trails in beautiful places makes for memories that stick in ways that are a healing and restorative. Have you ever pulled out a photo album of a great outdoors, adventure, or vacation, and felt the joy of that special place to come back? These times in our lives can refresh us again and again, just from the images and memory of it.
I hope these ideas inspire you to spend time with nature the way God made it, and experience the healing properties therein. Even a small amount every day affects our well-being.
About the Author:
Linda Carter is an author, mother, grandmother, creationist and certified naturalist that loves the great outdoors. You can connect with Linda and subscribe to her weekly blog, Nature’s Peace on her website: https://www.cedarridgebooks.com Here’s a link to her latest book: The Creation Naturalist: Nature Through the Lens of Faith. You will also enjoy her nature devotional book: Devotions From The Earth: Lessons From God in Nature.