Spending time in nature offers many mental health benefits. You get an added boost if you’re also spending time with pets, like my buddy Elektra who passed over the rainbow bridge in December 2023.
I love spending time in nature, and my high-energy dog helped me realize how much the great outdoors boosts my mood and overall mental health.
We adopted Elektra, a German shepherd-border collie mix, from the Humane Society as a 16th birthday gift for our daughter.
Before we got the dog I would run outside when the weather was decent and I felt like it. Other days I would go to the gym or skip exercise altogether.
Elektra needed exercise and lots of it so she wouldn’t destroy both our house and our peace. As the person in the family with the most flexible schedule and a runner, I took the dog for a run or walk every morning, no matter what.
Elektra didn’t care if it was 8 degrees or 80. She wanted to get out and move. I learned to love running on trails in woods and pastures or walking the streets in our neighborhood. I’d observe the flowers, birds, changing leaves, and cloud formations while Elektra sent and read P-mail.
Although Elektra passed over the rainbow bridge more than a year ago, I now have to get outside each and every morning and evening to feed my horse Penny, regardless of the weather.
‘A balm for our busy brains’
I know movement was part of what supported my mood and boosted my outlook, but I think the most important piece was the nature.
I’ve never enjoyed working out on a treadmill because nature is a big part of what makes me love to run and walk.
I can start the day feeling draggy and overwhelmed with all the tasks on my list, but getting outside brings both energy and a sense of calm. I don’t know how that works, but it does.
And it turns out that getting outside affects a lot of people that way.
According to a report from the American Psychological Association (APA), “spending time in nature can act as a balm for our busy brains.”
That means it reduces anxiety AND helps us focus on what’s important.
The APA article offered several theories about why people do better after spending time outside.
One is that early humans had to survive in wild settings so we developed an innate connection to nature. Another relates to the physiological reduction of stress we experience outdoors, and a third proposes that nature replenishes our cognitive resources that allow us to pay attention.
Research shows that exposure to natural environments improves working memory, cognitive flexibility, and the ability to focus, while exposure to urban environments is linked to attention deficits.
Boosting mindset and maybe even kindness
There are plenty of studies showing the mental health benefits of spending time outdoors.
A long-term study in Denmark found that children who lived in neighborhoods with more green space had a reduced risk of many psychiatric disorders later in life, including depression, mood disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and substance use disorder. For those with the lowest levels of green space exposure during childhood, the risk of developing mental illness was 55% higher than for those who grew up with abundant green space.
A University of Chicago study found that adults living in public housing units in neighborhoods with more green space showed better attentional functioning – the ability to focus on the important and tune out distractions – than those who lived in units with less access to natural environments.
And nature might even make us nicer.
There may be a link between nature and generosity and the emotion of awe and generosity, the “feeling that the individual is part of a much bigger whole,” says John Zelenski, PhD, a professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ontario, Canada.
Zelenski and his colleagues found that elementary school children showed more kindness to classmates and strangers after a field trip to a nature school than they did after a visit to an aviation museum.
How much time in nature is best?
A study led by British Professor Valerie Gladwell from the University of Suffolk showed that just five minutes in nature can help relieve stress and anxiety.
How much time is best for mental health? A large study led by University of Vienna Professor Mathew P. White found that 120 minutes a week delivered maximum benefits. And it didn’t matter whether that was 20 minutes a day for six days or 2 hours on a Saturday.
At least 10 minutes a day is a great starting point, and movement ramps up the positive impact, like walking or gardening.
Creation connects us to the Creator
This morning I was repairing sprinklers, not one of my favorite tasks. But I enjoyed the dappled sunshine underneath the bright green leaves in the oak and maple trees, a cool breeze swaying their branches.
As I went back and forth between the shop and the flower bed trying to find all the parts and tools for my project, I noticed a robin hopping on the path, eating a worm. I stopped for a moment just to watch the bird until it flew away.
I’m reminded of a Bible verse:
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? – Matthew 6:26-27
Nature reminds me of God’s care for us. He created this world to point us to His awesomeness.
For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. – Psalm 95:3-7
What’s your favorite way to enjoy nature?
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