Mother nature as Medicine

Research as shown that people who spend time in nature are happier and have less mental problems than people who do not have the chance to spend time in nature. It is not hard to imagine why this is since we as humans have only lived in cities for a few thousand years and are not adjusted on a biological level to city life. Even on a more superficial level the fact that nature is calm and quiet most of the time helps clear the mind add to that the fact that being present in nature often requires some kind of physical exercise which also has been proven to be good for mental health.

Let's look at three ways one can get out into nature to get the benefit that it offers.

Walking

The easiest way to get into nature is by simply going to the closest park or forest and walk on the trails. If you are not used to exercise you can take your time and stop and just breath in the forest and the beautiful smells it has to offer if you are lucky enough to live somewhere where there is pine trees just standing and breathing the pine smell has been shown to be good for your lungs this by itself can be considered wilde ess therapy.

If you usually walk in the city be prepared that walking in the forest is much more of an exercise you will have to climb over rocks and branches and the road will have hills and slopes, contrast this to a city where these uneven surfaces have been removed this means that walking in the forest is much better for you than walking in the city, you will probably break a sweat!

Camping

You can combine this with walking but for some people walking is not an option as they for one reason or another cannot walk but just being out in nature is still beneficial and therefore camping might be a good idea. Just to sit and take in nature feeling peace wash over you is a truly beautiful experience this can also be combined with some healthy eating to detox the body. One simple way of camping is to hike into a national park with a tent and stay the night by a fire pit is another way to get into nature is by going in an RV this has the added benefit that the person can bring a lot more stuff and this can be good for people with big families or for people who have special medical needs that needs to be tended to and that cannot fit in a backpack.

Sports

For some people walking will not be enough of an exercise or excitement to get to go out in the forest for these people there are many other options. For a single person or a person with just one or two co-travelers there are plenty of spots for mountain bikes with wildly different difficulty from beginner friendly to world class tracks this will get the adrenaline pumping and at the same time the biker can clear his or her head by looking at the peaceful nature that is going by.

Another sport that is just as though is climbing this usually requires preset mountain walls to climb up but a person wanting to get out into nature can easily do a search online for official climbing spots.

Conclusion

There are many ways to get into nature and there is not one correct way to do it but science is clear about the benefits of being in nature so it is more important to go out and experience it than what you do when you are there, hiking, camping or biking does not matter as long as you are present in the moment and in nature.