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Spending time outdoors can have a profoundly positive effect on your mental wellbeing. From taking a stroll in the park or tending your garden, to playing games outside or enjoying outdoor sports – spending time in nature can help reduce anxiety and help create greater calmness and focus.
Studies demonstrate that physical activity conducted in green spaces leads to significantly better psychological results than urban activities, including reduced levels of anxiety and fatigue.
Running
Running is an ideal outdoor activity to improve both mood and focus, providing essential mental health benefits that help overcome challenges in life. Running can provide an amazing physical fitness workout while simultaneously helping build mental strength. No matter where your running experience starts or ends up taking you.
One study concluded that people living near parks and green spaces recover more quickly from psychological stress than those who do not live nearby. Exposure to sunlight and natural elements has also been found to regulate circadian rhythms, leading to improved sleep quality and circadian regulation.
Recent research has focused on the environment in which physical activity takes place, or ecotherapy for short. This type of environmental prescribing has been utilized to treat various psychiatric disorders and improve overall well-being. Studies indicate that when exercise and nature combine, they may yield even greater improvements than either activity alone.
Yoga
Yoga is an ideal way to both get outdoors and boost your mental wellbeing. The practice encourages body awareness while supporting self-acceptance by helping people accept themselves for who they are. Yoga also promotes healthy eating habits and sleep hygiene – perfect ways to stay active! Plus it elevates heart rates – all without even leaving home!
Studies have demonstrated the positive effects of nature exposure on one’s mood, even in urban environments. Even just twenty minutes spent outdoors will reduce stress levels by increasing serotonin, the same neurotransmitter used by antidepressant drugs to treat depression.
Studies have demonstrated the many cognitive benefits of spending time outdoors, including problem solving and memory recall. Furthermore, being immersed in nature helps set your sleep cycle and boost vitamin D production which boosts immunity against depression and anxiety.
Hiking
Hiking is an incredible form of exercise that can improve your mood by elevating endorphins – the natural happiness and pleasure chemicals produced in the body – as well as providing opportunities to spend time in nature, which has been shown to alleviate feelings of stress, anxiety and improve concentration and attention span. Research conducted at Stanford University demonstrated that spending time outdoors calms parts of the brain associated with mental illness while decreasing negative thought patterns like rumination.
Hiking can provide an opportunity to practice mindfulness, which can reduce stress and relax the mind. Navigating along scenic trails and taking in your surroundings encourages all your senses to come alive as you focus on being present – which has many mental health and well-being benefits.
Hitting the trail can also be an excellent way to meet new people! According to research conducted at Stanford University, people who hike together experience lower perceived stress and stronger senses of community.
Foraging
Mushroom foraging can be an immensely fulfilling activity that helps individuals practice mindfulness while connecting with nature. Furthermore, mushroom foraging provides many health advantages including reduced blood pressure and stronger bones.
Researchers have recently revealed that people engaging in outdoor activities experience greater improvements in perceived stress, self-efficacy, mindfulness and subjective wellbeing compared to those who don’t participate. Furthermore, those participating show greater capacity to tolerate stressful events. These studies illustrate how outdoor adventures offer great potential to improve mental health for those from socially disadvantaged environments.
Fishing
Fishing’s tranquillity and focus can help people escape from daily stresses while reconnecting with nature and rediscovering a sense of purpose. Fishing offers great relaxation benefits as well as being an outdoor activity where vitamin D levels are naturally increased.
Fishing can also be an excellent way to exercise and build muscle strength, with the physical movement needed for fishing helping build upper body, core, and leg muscles. Furthermore, fishing can improve concentration and memory as well as encourage teamwork between participants – an activity perfect for socialization!
Studies have demonstrated the therapeutic value of spending just 20 minutes outdoors each day to decrease stress levels. One such study involved participants who went fishing and reported decreased cortisol levels after their excursion; furthermore, anxiety levels decreased and self-efficacy rose as a result of going fishing.
Archery
Spending time outdoors can act as a natural antidepressant, elevating mood by raising serotonin levels while decreasing depression and anxiety. Studies have demonstrated that two hours per week spent outdoors can provide similar psychological health benefits as taking antidepressant medication.
Archery requires focused concentration and high mental control – something you learn through both Olympic archery and local range practice. You learn to control breathing patterns, focus on targets and calm performance nerves – skills which will benefit daily life as you transition away from archery.
Archery can also serve as an invaluable way of building relationships among family and friends while relieving stress and creating a sense of accomplishment. Recording scores is an easy way to measure progress over time and can serve as motivation when results don’t quite live up to your hopes and expectations.