YOUR 2025 BRAIN BRAWN MICRO RESOLUTION GET IN TOUCH WITH NATURE!

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Exposure to Nature

 
Happy Monday! We hope, with two resolutions under your belt, you are still enjoying meals with no added sugar and getting better quality sleep!

Before we tackle our next big resolution, we'd like to recognize Earth Day with a micro resolution to spend more time in nature.
 
It has been almost 170 years since Walden, Thoreau’s exploration of living simply surrounded by nature, was published. In it, he famously says, “We need the tonic of wilderness… we can never have enough of nature.” Regarding cognitive tasks, he was correct.

A growing body of evidence has shown that exposure to nature improves performance of cognitive tasks and urban exposure may be detrimental to cognitive tasks. For example, a recent study found that those who walked for 35 minutes outdoors scored significantly better on the Stroop cognitive task than those who walked indoors on a treadmill. And a follow-up study found that those who walked outside in a forest scored better on a cognitive task than those who walked in an urban environment.
 
As with many phenomena, the mechanism by which this works is poorly understood but theories abound. Each theory relates to how we perceive the color (hue and saturation) and softer lines (fewer edges, less linear) of natural vs. urban environments, as well as the reduced need to filter stimuli such as traffic, crowds and signage. These benefits are best achieved by immersion in nature, but some benefits can be achieved by simulated environments (e.g., virtual reality).

In addition:

• Being outdoors provides daytime exposure to blue light, critical for the circadian rhythm which is responsible for the timeclocks in every single cell in the body and responsible for our sleep-wake cycles (you may remember we discussed this during the Sleep Better resolution).
  
  
• Being outdoors reduces the stress response and associated negative physiological effects (such as inflammation)—chronically existing in the “fight or flight” response when we don’t actually need to fight or run.
  
  
• Being outdoors exposes us to the terpenes of plants and trees and the aromatic compounds given off by them. Specifically, pinene found in rosemary, pine and basil has been found to have a bronchodilator effect (i.e., it makes breathing easier). The scents in terpenes also have a positive effect on mood (consider how sniffing an essential oil impacts you).

The Outdoors & Cognitive Decline
 
Those who reside in areas with high greenspace have a reduced risk of developing dementia. In those with dementia, time outdoors has shown to improve mood in a time-dependent fashion. An enriched environment has been shown to stimulate brain plasticity.
 
The health benefits of exposure to nature are so profound that some doctors have taken to prescribing time outdoors. Similarly, the Japanese practice of Forest Bathing has really taken off.
 
You might be a bit skeptical, but what do you have to lose? This week, once a day (bonus if after lunch) lace up those sneakers, grab a friend or the dog and head out to the green spaces in your neighborhood to see if it affects your mental outlook and ability to concentrate later in the day. Track it on the calendar below.

TRACK YOUR PROGRESS

YOUR MICRO RESOLUTION: GET IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Log your time in nature each day and record what kind of activity you did. Be sure to continue logging meals without added sugar and time spent in bed.
Click or tap to view and download the log.