BODIES & MINDS PEAK OUTDOORS

We know that the more time we spend in front of screens, large and small, the more we need to exercise to ward off the medical risks of sedentary living. Our screens also keep us from interacting with nature. And now, a new question has emerged. Does diminished contact with nature have a negative impact on our health and the health of our planet?

When we do connect with nature, we feel restored and recharged. We’ve long witnessed the healing power of nature, vis medicatrix naturae. Recent studies have found that people have lower blood levels of cortisol, a hormone related to stress, after exerting themselves outside as compared with inside.

Photo: Eduards Pulks. Man jogging at sunset, Latvia

A number of recent studies have indicated that people enjoy exercise more when they do it outside. But the benefits seem to last well beyond the moment. People who exercise outdoors scored significantly higher than people who keep it indoors on measures of vitality, enthusiasm, pleasure and self-esteem while they scored lower on measures of tension, depression, and fatigue.
 

Photo: Courtesy of BTB CrossFit Outdoor

 

Researchers from the University of Michigan found, in a study prepared and reported in June (2013) for the Sierra Club, that participation in outdoor group recreation promoted higher psychological well-being among a group of military veterans. These improvements were found to be especially profound in the veterans who suffered the most  from serious mental or physical health problems.

 

Outdoors exercise trumps working out at the gym when it comes to burning calories, gaining strength, and improving agility.

 

Navigating uneven terrain, wind, and weather outside make for a more strenuous workout. Different muscles get exerted. Different parts of the brain fire up. You are more challenged. And, overall, you get a better result.

Photo: Helleborus. Mount Tuolpagorni, The Kebnekaise massif, Lake Laddjujavri
 

Outdoor exercise has both inspired and empowered Aron Andersen, a double amputee, who lost his legs to cancer when he was a child. Just 10 days ago, he became the first person to climb the tallest mountain in Sweden, Mount Kebnekaise, with the aid of a wheelchair and crutches.

 

Photo: Aron Anderson

 

Anderson teamed up with explorer Johan Ernst Nilson, to make the trek up to the top, over 2100 meters high, which took 28 hours of active climbing over the course of 3 days. Using his upper body strength to pull his body up, he wheeled, crawled, and negotiated crutches through rocky, snowy, icy terrain, getting to the peak all on his own steam. Anderson has his sights set on more. He wants to climb to at least basecamp on Mount Everest. And wants to run in the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio.

 

We can’t wait to head outdoors to go for a hike this afternoon, breathe some fresh mountain air, and have our own peak mind and body experiences.

 

Check out the rest of our posts on Outdoors this week in Arts/Design, Food/Drink, Mind/Body, Place/Time, Nature/Science, and Soul Impact. And enter this week's photo competition. The theme: Outdoors (Deadline, August 18th, 2013).