Make Mother Nature Part of Mother’s Day

7 May 2009

by Tina Vindum

in Benefits, Health Issues

All year long, we moms juggle hectic schedules, wearing more hats than a baseball team -- businesswoman, cook, coach, maid, nurse, chauffeur, shrink, etc.

This Sunday is the day we have permission to focus on our needs, so why not treat ourselves, and our families, to more than a heavy brunch, a box of chocolates, and a stack of DVDs? Instead, turn off the TV and video games, grab the kids, and head to the beach, a deep forest, or even the backyard, for some outdoor fun and fitness. In our overscheduled yet far-too-sedentary age, there's no better way to recharge body, mind, and spirit than to exercise in the great outdoors.

Why is it so important for us to connect with nature and be outdoors? Because mounting research shows the profound effect that fresh air, plants, trees, and natural outdoor elements have on our health and well-being. When you spend time outdoors, especially being active, you can lift your mood, think more positively, feel more internal calm, and experience greater harmony with the world around you.

Recent studies have shown that being in a natural, outdoor environment is one of the very best things you can do for your health. The findings include:

• Levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate our mood, rise when we are outside. A study conducted at the University of Queensland in Australia found that regular outdoor runners were less anxious and depressed than people who ran indoors on a treadmill, and they had higher levels of post-exercise endorphins, the feel-good brain chemicals associated with "runner's high."
• Exposure to nature reduces pain and illness and speeds recovery time. In one study of postoperative patients, those who had rooms with a view of natural surroundings needed less pain medication and spent fewer days in the hospital than those who faced a brick wall. In another study, prisoners in Michigan who were able to view sky, grass, and trees had 24 percent fewer infirmary visits and significantly fewer digestive illnesses and headaches.
• Being in nature reduces stress-related anger and enhances sociability. Frances Kuo, a researcher at the University of Illinois, has shown that being around grass and greenery reduces rates of domestic violence and school truancy and leads to better grades and increased social interaction. And a study by Dr. David Lewis, the man who coined the term road rage, found that the scent of grass has a significant calming effect on out-of-control drivers.
• You do your lungs a favor when you exercise outdoors: According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air in the United States is two to five times more polluted than outdoor air (meaning the outdoor air is 75 percent less polluted than indoor air!). Fresh air is also rich in negative ions (oxygen molecules with an extra electron). These negative ions have been linked to an improved sense of well-being, heightened awareness and alertness, decreased anxiety, and a lower resting heart rate.

Outdoor fitness not only delivers all of these very real physiological benefits, it also offers you an easy-to-follow, scientifically based, exhilarating way to exercise outdoors.

Whether you are looking to begin a new exercise program, you're bored and frustrated with the one you have, or you are looking to increase your sports performance, you will discover a new sense of vitality, confidence, and sheer pleasure of being alive -- as you get in the best shape of your life. We don't all need to pick up stakes and move to the woods or the mountains in order to reestablish our health, but we do need to spend time outside. The EPA estimates that we spend more than 90 percent (many scientists argue this number is higher) of our time indoors, inside our homes, our offices, and our cars -- we rarely connect with nature and the outdoors.

So make Mother Nature part of your Mother's Day, and get the kids involved. Not only will outdoor exercise deepen your connection to nature, but also with your children, because outdoor fitness heightens our sense of play and adventure. Childhood is the stage when people typically spend the greatest amount of time outdoors at play -- running, jumping, and skipping. We can experience the same fun as adults through outdoor fitness. Leaping across streams, hopping from rock to rock on a trail, or dashing through a playground -- the training's mix of grit, sweat, and fun is youth enhancing at any age.

Happy Mother's Day!