In this solo episode today, I want to share something that happened to me at my son Max’s wedding to Sarah – which took me by surprise and made me step back and revaluate who else needs to hear the message I am sharing in this podcast.
So let me take you to the big day. I was there mother of the groom and asked to do a big speech.I was nervous, practicing, second guessing whether this was the right thing to say-all the things that parents feel before making a momental speech.. I won’t read you the whole speech. So listeners here is part of my speech on that precious loved filled day:
When the kids were small we lived on Loughborough Lake near Kingston. One day I was rushing around tidying our house and saying, “I just want to get things back to normal.” Max who was in Grade 1 at the time said, “Mommy Where’s normal?” I replied “ I don’t know, where do you think it is? Max said “Out in the middle of the lake somewhere.”
And when Max was little he loved to lie on the ground and look up into the tree branches – for a very long time. So long that I finally decided to start lying down next to him. When I did, he said “look mommy angels” – he was referring to the light glancing through the tree branches.
I don’t know, but if I asked Max today “where is normal?” I am pretty sure he would say anywhere in the world – and mostly outside and always with Sarah.|”
Your time spent in green space profoundly affects your physical health and well being. Large peer reviewed medical journals share their results often traced through MRIs in the brain and blood flow throughout the body.
I ran this podcast script by Sarah and Max when they were here with me in Manitoba after their wedding (they live and work in London England). They advised me to tell you what I am going to say to you and summarize it at the end. So here goes. In this part I give you 7 things that 20 minutes a day outside in green space will do for you. 1) reduce your worry 2)make you feel better and think more clearly 3) even if you don’t think you feel stressed, you will feel stress relief out there 4)live longer 5)make you bounce back more quickly from whatever life throws at you 6) better control of your emotions 7)feel better about yourself world and your world around around you, lift your mood, your confidence and helps you to treat and avoid illness.
Here’s a little more detail on each of the 7.
Number 1) Reduce your worry or rumination: Rumination is where your fearful/worried thoughts go round and round. This kind of thinking starts with phrases like: “what if, if only, why.” Not only is rumination unpleasant for you, but it leads to depression and poor brain function, and stops you from problem solving or seeking help (Bratman et al., 2015a).
Number 2) Feel better and think more clearly: Your attention focuses easily and lightly on different things outside (called bottom-up attention) instead of a hard focus on a computer screen or driving (top-down attention). Your ability to pay attention is restored in green spaces (Attention Restoration Theory or ART) (Berman U of Chicago Bratman et al., 2015b).
Number 3)Feel immediate stress relief because your eyes are thirsty for nature: In minutes, naturally occurring patterns in nature (fractals) decrease your stress by up to 60% (Taylor et al., 2005; Taylor & Spehar, 2016; Fortier, 2020d).
Number 4) Makes you live longer: Studies show spending time in green space can help you live 8-12% longer. Congratulations, you just added about 10 years to your life span (Crouse UNBet al., 2017; James Harvard et al., 2016).
Number 5) Makes you more resilient: Spending time in green space helps you recover more quickly from stress and gives you more resilience for whatever life throws at you (Brown et al., 2013; van den Berg et al., 2010).
Number 6) Regulates your emotions/gives you a sense of place and well-being: Spending time in green space helps you balance (regulate) your emotions like anger and sadness (Knez et al., 2018; Takayama et al., 2014).
Number 7) Makes you feel better about your world around you. Experiencing little moments of awe in nature helps you see the big picture beyond yourself. It makes you feel kinder and more generous toward yourself and others (Keltner) . Improves your mood, raises your self-esteem, and helps you to avoid/manage chronic illness: All it takes is five minutes in green space to experience these positive effects. Higher self-esteem is connected to less symptom severity, like pain or shortness of breath. It also elicits the greatest improvements in mood and self-esteem (Barton et al., 2009; Barton et al., 2012; Juth et al., 2008; Piazza et al., 2013).
To summarize what I just said here are the 7 things that 20 minutes a day outside in green space will do for you. 1) reduce your worry 2)make you feel better and think more clearly 3) even if you don’t think you feel stressed, you will feel stress relief out there 4)live longer 5)make you bounce back more quickly from whatever life throws at you 6) better control of your emotions 7)feel better about your world around you, lift your mood, you confidence and helps you to treat and avoid illness. in my book Take Back Your Outside Mindset (on Amazon) you will get more info and peer reviewed citations for each of the 7 points.
This list shows that there are so many overlapping and reinforcing positive effects of being outside close to trees. Getting out into green space is always the right thing to do. You are missing something if you do not get into green places. Your surroundings support your ability to think. You can let your brain’s default network take over, let your thinking get looser. You can make the most of all these trees, shrubs, and plants—make them your allies, your friends.
What I learned about myself when I practiced getting out into green space everyday is that I could take the pain and darkness of a lupus diagnosis and transform that diagnosis into joy and light because it got me out into green space and helped me to reclaim MY OUTSIDE MINDSET. AND YOU CAN DO THE SAME THING – turn what might feel dark into light. Get familiar with the science based benefits so you can remind yourself and your friends just what you are getting out of this time together under the trees. SO Step away from Your computer screen right now to get just a few minutes in green space, because we all need a little more of your outside mindset.
PS in my next episode will give you words that you can say to yourself when you are outside – words that work – like – oither people are attracted to me when I amj outside – and it’s true – the science says so. For those of you at the wedding which took place outside you were beautiful and I hope that you are still like me , riding that wave of love and happiness. Here’s to you Sarah and Max and your spent outside.
For peer reviewed research on how your time spent in green space can change your mindset, balance your nervous system and your heart rate please go to my website https://treesmendus.com and check out my books Take Back Your Outside Mindset: Live Longer, Stress Less, and Control Your Chronic Illness and Optimize Your Heart Rate: Balance Your Mind and Body With Green Space
