So in the last episode I gave you 7 things that 20 minutes a day outside in green space will do for you. 1) reduce your worry 2)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) give you better control of your emotions 7)make you feel better about your world around you, lift your mood, your 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. But you might be thinking to yourself…Sounds really good but …1) I don’t have time.
Every moment outside looking up into the sky or branches of a tree gives you something – and these moments add up. 2)Or you might say, I tried going outside …none of that magic happened. It helps if you understand the science behind this so that your brain believes it and then your body will too according to Prof Ellen Langer social psychologist at Harvard. 3)Or you might say. I don’t need to go outside, I am doing fine. But the thing is you might not even know that you are stressed. It is not until you get outside that you might feel ahhh this is better and you feel lighter/ easier/ looser/happier. What you might not know is that you will also be more beautiful or handsome to others when you are outside. When I saw an Instagram reel of my 20 something kids out in the countryside last weekend with their friends, I saw this. They were even more beautiful, happy and carefree out there together in the Cotswald area in England. I want to explain to you in graphic terms why you too look even more beautiful out there in the countryside. It’s about blood flow throughout your body when you are out there. To do this I have to draw on my nursing biology knowledge about your autonomic or automatic nervous system and blood flow. So in the last episode I talked about how getting outside loosens and relaxes your thinking – your thoughts relax, you get perspective. At the very same time there are changes in your physical body – your nervous system comes into balance. On pages 57-59 Optimize on see saw nervous system which goes up and down between the sympathetic (fight/flight – where the heart speeds up) and the rest and digest where the heart relaxes and slows down. We need both. To get things done we need out heart rate to speed up and that is ok. When you are in sympathetic f/f the blood goes to your arms and legs so you can run away. But you don’t want to stay in that hyped up productive state, you need to give your mind and body a break. This is what happens in green space. YThe other extreme of your see saw nervous system, called you R&D takes over to bring your body and mind back into balance. Your In the r/d the blood stays in your head and core – so the blood vessels open up in your head, through your chest and heart (relaxed heart rate) and your abs – sphincters and organs are relaxing so that your food, waste, blood, and secretions can pass through your body with ease, and down below that the blood flows to your kidneys, bowels and genitals. This is where my kids say “mom……” This is all good I am a nurse this is how we talk… So 7 specific things happen when your blood flows
- female and male genital system, those organs become engorged with blood – more alive – and you are more attracted to others while the very same thing is happening to them. And everybody looks even more beautiful and handsome out there. So there’s the answer. Nature give you a makeover. All you have to do is get there.
- But there are also a few more embarrassing things going on when you are in green space and your automatic nervous system relaxes into the parasympathetic mode. HRelaxes sphincter muscles of bowel and bladder – those are the muscles that hold the poop and pee in. So if you sometimes feel the urge to do either outside you now know why. At the same time the ps Contracts your bladder so it helps force the urine out of your bladder. Another reason to learn to pee in the woods. Ok the embarrassing stuff is over.
- Now we move to how getting outside powers up your entire digestive system. Starts peristalsis, or movement of stomach and intestines to digest food and release bile to digest fats. Dilates (opens) blood vessels leading to the digestive track (adds power) We need digestive power!
- The other things is that we need tears in our eyes for lubrication. And the ps nervous system in green space helps us make more tears and lubricates your eyes. I think it also makes our noses run.
- And the ps controls your pupil response so helps with sleep
Page 59 of Optimize acetlycholine the primary R&D hormone – opens up or widens blood vessels to decrease your heart rate. The vagus nerve is the largest nerve in the R&D system and has branches in key organs including the penis, the vagina, stomach, kidneys, bladder, liver, pancreas, gall bladder, and anal sphincter. 75% of your ps nerve fibres come from the vagus nerve. The smaller nerve, the ocular motor nerve helps contract the pupil to make it smaller. Another set of smaller nerves is the glossophyangeal nerves that go to the parotid salivary glands to provide extra saliva. Facial nerves control saliva and mucus in the nose and mouth. So these are all the nerves in the ps which are stimulated when you get outside into green spaces.
You might have heard someone say th at they are going outside to clear their mind. Yes when you go outside you are clearing your mind and you are clearing your body too. This is based on EL definition of mindfulness. You don’t have to meditate, you simply have to notice new things around you – something new about something you already thought youj knew. From my book and workbook Take Back Your Outside Mindset, here are some things that you can do to help you to notice new things about your nearby green space:
- Bend down and touch a plant for a few seconds
- Brush your fingertips over some moss, or bark, or branches
- Pick a tree to notice throughout the seasons (take photos of it)
- Breathe in the sound of birds or breeze in the trees
- Learn the names of a few tree species in your local green space
- Touch the water in a stream, pond or lake
- Hum to remind yourself that when you are noticing new things you are in the present.
Ellen Langer says that when we are simply noticing new things we are enlivened and all the right neurons are firing in our mind and body. We become more interested and interesting to others. And we are having more fun. Add this to the biology of blood flow that takes place in green space and you are winning all around. So to summarize 7 things this is what I said happens to make you look more beautiful outside. In ps mode, R&D Blood flows easily to:
- Your genital organs making you feel more attracted to others while the very same thing is happening to them.
- To Relax your sphincter muscles of bowel and bladder – those are the muscles that hold the poop and pee in.
- At the same time the ps Contracts your bladder so it helps force the urine out of your bladder.
- Starts peristalsis, or movement of stomach and intestines to digest food and release bile to digest fats
- Dilates (opens) blood vessels leading to the digestive track (adds power) We need digestive power!
- The other things is that we need tears in our eyes for lubrication. And the ps nervous system in green space helps us make more tears and lubricates your eyes. Itt also makes our noses run.
- And the ps controls your pupil response so helps with sleep . Page 59 of Optimize acetlycholine – opens up blood vessels, increases body secretion, and slows your heart rate. And the vagus nerve is the biggest nerve in the R&D system with branches in all of your key organs. Did I mention that it was raining when the kids were out walking in the Cotswald countryside. The were all smiles in their rain coats and wellies. It may sound superficial to focus on their beauty but it is a virtuous circle where mental well-being affects physical well-being and appearance. All of the overlapping and positive effects were still with them during their inside evening of dinner and dancing the night away!My next podcast is with the Swedish author of the book “The Open-Air Life: Discover the Nordic Art of Friluftliv and Embrace Nature Every Day.” he author Linda Akeson McGurk, a Swedish American writer introduces readers to friluftsliv, a wide array of Nordic customs and practices that focus on slowing down and spending more of one’s time in nature. Linda Akinson McGurk first book is called There is no such thing as bad weather: a Scandinavian mom’s secrets yo raising healthy, confident and resilient kids.” So please remember 1)that even if everthing you have to do and want to do is inside, you can take a moment to get outside and look up into the sky, and that all these little moments add up. And 2) even if don’t believe all the positive and overlapping effects of a few ,moments outside, it helps you to know the peer reviewed science – if your brain believes, your body will too 3) can be convinced your body will you think you are fine, when you step outside you will feel lighter, freer, happier. So please join me let’s get let’s step away from your screens, get outside, and notice one new thing because we all need a little more of your outside mindset.
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
