Since moving back to Burnaby, my childhood city, I've rediscovered some of the old places I used to go to when I was a kid and now enjoy them as an adult. One of my favourite places in the Central Burnaby area is Deer Lake Park, Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby Heritage Village Museum and the Shadbolt Center for the Arts. They're all within Deer Lake Park so when I want to go and walk the lake, I know I can see other things as well. Now that fall is here and the days are darker, more rainy and just plain dreary at times there is more time spent indoors. Sometimes you just need to get outside and release the energy and clear your mind. 

1. Being in nature decreases stress

Results showed that those who walked in forests had significantly lower heart rates and higher heart rate variability (indicating more relaxation and less stress), and reported better moods and less anxiety, than those who walked in urban settings. The researchers concluded that there’s something about being in nature that had a beneficial effect on stress reduction, above and beyond what exercise alone might have produced. These studies and others provide evidence that being in natural spaces, or even just looking out of a window onto a natural scene, somehow soothes us and relieves stress.

2. Nature makes you happier and less brooding

I’ve always found that hiking or walking in nature makes me feel happier, and of course, decreased stress may be a big part of the reason why. The stress of an unpleasant environment can cause you to feel anxious, or sad, or helpless. This, in turn, elevates your blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle tension and suppresses your immune system. A pleasing environment reverses that.

3. Nature relieves attention fatigue and increases creativity

Today, we live with technology designed to constantly want our attention. But many scientists believe our brains were not made for this kind of information bombardment, and that it can lead to mental fatigue and burnout, requiring “attention restoration” to get back to a normal, healthy state.

Being in nature restores depleted attention circuits, which can then help us be more open to creativity and problem-solving. If you’ve been using your brain to multitask, as most of us do most of the day and then you set that aside and go on a walk, without all of the gadgets it's like a reset.

4. Nature may help you to be kind and generous

As plants help you recover from stress, increase concentration, and improve productivity, there is one other superpower greenery appears to have: affecting how much of something you receive. Kindness is more than behaviour. The art of kindness means harbouring a spirit of helpfulness, as well as being generous and considerate, and doing so without expecting anything in return. Kindness is a quality of being. The act of giving kindness often is simple, free, positive and healthy.

Good for the body

Kindness has been shown to increase self-esteem, empathy and compassion, and improve mood. It can decrease blood pressure and cortisol, a stress hormone, which directly impacts stress levels. People who give of themselves in a balanced way also tend to be healthier and live longer. Kindness can increase your sense of connectivity with others, which can directly impact loneliness, improve low mood and enhance relationships in general. It also can be contagious. Looking for ways to show kindness can give you a focus activity, especially if you tend to be anxious or stressed in some social situations.

Good for the mind

Physiologically, kindness can positively change your brain. Being kind boosts serotonin and dopamine, which are neurotransmitters in the brain that give you feelings of satisfaction and well-being, and cause the pleasure and reward centers in your brain to light up. Endorphins, which are your body’s natural pain killer, also can be released.

5. Nature makes you “feel more alive”

With all of these benefits to being out in nature, it’s probably no surprise that something about nature makes us feel more alive and connected to our breath. Breathing in fresh outdoor air and exhaling is similar to meditation. Being outdoors gives us energy, makes us happier, helps us to relieve the everyday stresses of our overscheduled lives, opens the door to creativity, and helps us to be kind to others.

Today was a good day, even though we're having a rainy stretch again this week here in the Lower Mainland, you can still get outside to enjoy the fresh air, fall colours and scenery, just don't forget the umbrella.