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Think about your schedule: hour by hour, day by day, week by week. Between hours at school, in the car, in your room or at the mall, do you go outside? Do you make time for nature in your daily life? Do you think of yourself as an “outdoorsy” person? If your answer to any of these questions is no, you might want to reflect on the importance of going outside and what it does for you physically, mentally and emotionally.
When students get caught up in the pressures of school and social life, they often forget to take care of themselves physically. Even athletes can slack in the off-season without a coach or team practices to keep them on track. Hiking and backpacking are great ways to keep active; just one mile of light hiking burns calories, builds muscle, and strengthens endurance. What also helps is that activities like these aren’t competitive or quantitative – there’s no pressure to beat a time or finish a number of laps. The main motivation to hike is to see the beauty of the summit and to experience the scenery as you pass; it just so happens to be great for your body too!
Being outside is also great for your mental state. Most teenagers tend to stay sequestered in the tight routines of their lives: home, car, school, activities, home. Seeing the same places every day can make our brains feel rutted and stuck. A change of scenery, especially if it’s a beautiful valley or a sunny river, can stimulate creativity and new ideas. Another issue many of us face is stress. In the bubbles of our lives, problems like schoolwork and drama can get magnified and take over our lives. Going outside reminds us that the world is much bigger than some late calculus homework; it puts our problems in perspective.
What’s truly incredible, though, is the impact nature has on our emotions and biology. Trees don’t just reduce stress by putting problems in perspective; they also release airborne compounds called phytoncides that decrease your cortisol levels. The level of visual stimulation typically found in a natural setting happens to be the perfect amount of visual stimulation your brain needs to fall quiet and calm; it also relaxes ciliary muscles in your eyes, allowing them to rest. Peaceful natural environments decrease general overactivity in your nervous system.
All this is to say, in scientific terms, that your body responds positively when it’s where it was meant to exist. Next time you have a weekend off, think about taking a hike or going camping; it’s really, really good for you.