Health and Wellbeing and the Outdoors
November 5th, 2020
Jackie, Cumulus Outdoors Office Manager, tells of her experience of the benefits of getting outdoors.
A childhood spent outdoors
For as long as I can remember, being outside has had an almost subconscious effect on my wellbeing. As a child, family walks and trips to the countryside always made me happy and excited; feeling the fresh air blowing in my hair and seeing the green of the vegetation and the blues of the skies made those times simple, new and uplifting. At the time, I didn’t realise why I felt so energised and bright, although at the same time strangely calm.
As I’ve grown older (and wiser) hobbies have entered my life which have served to increase my time in the outdoors; my love of nature and wildlife, geography, photography and the simplicity of hiking the local Jurassic Coast and surrounding countryside. All of these have augmented feelings of regeneration, calmness and relaxation. Being outside immersed in nature, you forget about the daily stresses which build up and take over your life; how can the stunning beauty of a pink and yellow sunrise be outweighed by the latest economic crisis to hit the business world? How can the need to change your utility supplier possibly compare to watching a majestic stag proudly guarding his harem of does. They can’t. They shouldn’t. And they must not. For being immersed in nature is now recognised as being highly beneficial to human beings mental and physical wellbeing.
Meriam Ahari, Stylist’s fitness editor, recently championed the benefits of hiking over running in her blog; ‘Hiking was the Fitness Wake-Up Call my Mind and Body Needed’.
Having to take a staycation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she naively underestimated the effect of hiking would have on her mind and her body. ‘It made me realise how good it was just to walk in nature’ and she ‘ended each day feeling exhausted, yet energised from the climb with a sense of fulfilment and mental clarity’
A newly converted believer in the benefits of the outdoor world imparting her experiences and encouraging others to do the same.
Recognising the importance of the outdoors for health and wellbeing
The Institute of Outdoor Learning has recently put together a model for supporting organisations who provide services for mental health and well-being in an outdoor setting. Together with the British Society for Lifestyle Medicine (BSLM), they advocate creating and interacting with healthy outdoor environments to make positive changes to our mental health. As Dr Rob Lawson (BSLM) says, ‘Outdoor Health as an intervention is as least as powerful as any other – and fun to boot!’
They also highlight the importance of companies to incorporate the benefits of the outdoors in the health of their employees and suggest outdoor health programmes to support their employees who are struggling with health issues to remain in and to thrive at work.
(Outdoor Mental Health Interventions by The Institute of Outdoor Learning 2020).
In this day and age, we are all experiencing the stresses of the pandemic and how it has taken over our lives and our thinking. Irrational actions are worryingly becoming an unwelcomed response to continuous advice and guideline changes and this has to be counter-acted in order to regain a balance between life and perceived stresses. To settle the mind and give us some peace and time to reflect and relax. Getting outside into nature can have this desired effect. Go on and try it; walk to the top of your nearest hill and take in the fresh air and the views. It will hook you and you won’t look back………..believe me.
Covid 19 guidance for the public on mental health and wellbeing.