Michelle Padilla, Staff Reporter
Many are busy with sports and extracurricular activities, personal life and hobbies, which are all understandable. Even if we have things to do, let’s be honest, we have enough time in our hands to at least take a walk in the park, even to take a hike and breathe clean air.
You may ask, why would I bother going outside? Well, we are meant to live and experience what the world has to offer, but how can we achieve that when our free time is being wasted on our phones?
There are two reasons why spending time outside is good for you. Besides giving you beautiful sights; it enhances your emotional and physical health.
Engaging, trying, rather than watching other people live, would be truly tasting life at its best. Being out in nature lets you discard exaggerated worries and logic, you let your emotions overtake you and have a chance to relax.
The beauty of nature is made to be discovered, to be among the trees and enjoy the feeling of being alive. Marija Daukantaite, Rancho Cucamonga High School junior, shares her opinion on interacting with nature. “Going outside makes me feel healthier, and if I am bored it can count as an interesting, active adventure. Knowing that I can spend time enjoying nature makes me feel happy.”
Going outside and having peace is a tremendous restoration on our emotional health, it lets you discard worries and logic, leading to relaxation. Feeling the sunlight and taking in the clean, non-contaminated air gives you a sense of impartiality, our surroundings also affect the way we think and feel.
Being in the company of our phenomenal outside environment reduces anger, fear, and stress, while it increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes your emotional health improve, it also contributes to your physical wellbeing, reducing blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, and produces less stress hormones.
A study from the National Center of Biotechnology Information stated that, “People living in greener environment –regardless of level of urbanicity– reported fewer symptoms of ill health & greater perceived general health” (de Vries, Verheij, Groenewegen, & Spreeuwenberg).
Research shows that we elicit positive psychological responses such as interest, peace, and wakefulness. When a person is exposed to a natural environment, their brain is better able to relieve itself of excess circulation (which is caused by overthinking and stressful activities) and harmonizes the brain’s right hemisphere with the left hemisphere.
Concluding, nature has an extremely positive impact on mental and physical health. As strange as it sounds, hugging a tree, caressing the grass, or closing your eyes and listening to the breeze is a form of connecting with yourself and everything else. So go outside and experience nature for yourself, you will not regret it!
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