Did you know that being in nature gives people a major boost in health and well-being? Especially emotional and mental health.
I used to think getting outside was simply personal preference for a few of us who are wired that way. That some of us choose it because we feel a connection with the natural world.
But I’ve since discovered that all of us — independent of our culture, race or location — respond positively to nature. That, in fact, it was known as far back as the ancient world that nature benefits people in many ways.
How Nature Boosts Our Health & Well-being
Here’s the short list of what researchers have found are some of the benefits of nature — of being outside in “green” areas:
- Nature helps us cope with and recover from stress
- It gives us a sense of relaxation and calm
- The outdoors enhances our emotional well-being and happiness
- It helps us forget our current problems
- Being outside gives us the opportunity to reflect on personal matters
- And it helps us recover from mental fatigue
- Nature helps us focus on the positive
- It enhances our curiosity and creativity
- And it engages our mind while letting it think about other things, allowing our attention to “rest”
- The outdoors helps us think through and gain perspective on our problems
- It helps rejuvenate mind, body and spirit
And you don’t have to be in the middle of a natural setting to gain some of these benefits. These benefits begin to take shape just looking out the windows at a “green” space.
It’s even good for us to look at pictures in a book or watch a film about nature.
Isn’t that amazing?!
(These facts come from an Australian study “Beyond Blue to Green” done in 2010.)
The “Why” Depends on Your Worldview
Why does nature give humans all these health benefits? The “why” you come up with depends on your worldview assumptions.
If you believe in naturalistic evolution, it’s because eons of human evolution haven’t disconnected us from the fact that our earliest ancestors depended on nature for survival. Or something like that.
Or it’s purely by chance that the natural world just happens to benefit us in all these really cool ways.
The biblical worldview would say it’s because God created both the natural world and people—and He built in these benefits for our good.
He designed nature to be beautiful, but also full of health benefits for us.
(Read: What Does Jesus Have to Do with Nature?)
He created us with five physical senses that all help us take in and respond to our environment. Not just respond for survival, but respond in appreciation, wonder and pleasure.
(I’ve never thought those types of responses make any evolutionary sense at all…)
God placed Adam and Eve in a garden, full of trees that were both good for food and beautiful to look at, and instructed them to care for it.
That He created the animals “and brought them to the man” shows God intended there to be a connection between us and the animals. Anyone who’s had a pet knows that first hand.
Our physical, emotional and spiritual responses to the natural world have been wired into us by a loving God.
Take Advantage of Your Natural Wiring
This means it’s to our benefit to take the time, to make the choice to get outside on a regular basis.
It can be as simple as sitting out in the yard next to a pot of flowers, or going for a walk. Or it can be as ambitious as planning a destination trip across the country or the world to one of your dream places.
All these choices will help us regulate stress, even out moods, stay positive even in the middle of hard things.
I love that when God tells us in His word to rejoice always, be thankful, don’t be anxious…He’s given us resources that make it easier for us obey those instructions.
One of those resources is as simple as being in the natural world.
If I’m starting to feel depressed by a situation, now I know that getting outside will help me fight that depression.
Or if I’m mad at a person or situation, now I know that being in the natural world tends to help me say “no” to that anger.
If I’m stuck on a problem and am having trouble finding a solution, now I know that getting outside (and moving helps, too) can help me clear my mind and refocus.
This is very good news! Especially for someone like me who only needs the flimsiest of excuses to get outside to begin with.
Look back again at that list of benefits at the beginning of this article. How many of those have you experienced by being outdoors. Especially in places of beauty and quiet that are away from the bustle of our everyday lives.
What a gift that is from our faithful Creator!
Here’s more…
- What the Bible Says about Nature and Creation
- Enjoy God’s Magnificent Creation Often
- How God Uses Wilderness to Shape Us
- 20 Meaningful Bible Verses about Nature - March 18, 2024
- Build Christian Community through Outdoor Adventure - February 17, 2024
- Hearing God Speak in the Outdoors - February 9, 2024