Connection Series Part 1: Connection to Nature
Today is part 1 in a 3 part series on connection, and we are beginning with a fundamental biological human need: connection to nature.
In the modern world, it’s remarkably easy to feel disconnected from nature. According to the EPA, Americans spend over 90% of their time indoors. The 10% that is spent outside presumably includes some of our time spent walking from one building to another, which also means we’re taking in a cityscape as opposed to a naturescape during that time. Most people who are climate and environmental activists claim they were inspired to become involved because they saw something on TV or something on the Internet.
Why should you care about nature? What is the point of spending time in nature? Why should you care about getting outside? What are the benefits to spending time outdoors? We’ll cover all of that and more.
Humans today seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of nature. We seem to have this delusion that man has conquered nature, that man can live outside the rules of nature and live in a world of limitless growth and expansion. We treat nature as though we are not a part of it, as though it doesn’t live inside of us or nourish us, as though it isn’t us. Again, a fundamental misconception.
The idea that man has conquered nature is an obvious delusion that doesn’t take much to dispel: look at the news and somewhere in the world we see a part of the world affected by natural disaster. Natural disasters wouldn’t exist if man had conquered nature. Our treatment of the environment shows a fundamental disconnection of our understanding of nature. We mine, extract, burn, destroy, subjugate, and overtax the Earth’s resources at every turn as if our survival as a species exists outside of the built in paradigm of finite resources. Think about the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the water you drink, the Amazon package out for delivery, the couch or chair you are currently sitting in. All of these came in some way shape or form from the Earth. They are literally made of the Earth. Think about this: so are you. You are a product of the Earth. Everything on Earth is a product of Earth, regardless of how different it looks from its original form and shape.
Our current cityscapes are the opposite of naturescapes. They are squares upon squares with squares inside of squares. Everything is neat, orderly, and in perfect right angles. We walk from one square box to another, staring at our rectangular screens both inside and outside the square boxes, on straight lines and right angles. The average amount of screen time for an American is 10 hours per day. 90 percent of our time is spent indoors, in squares, staring at square screens for 10 of our 16 waking hours.
It’s a sick, twisted, and bitter irony that we are continually destroying more and more of the natural world, as the natural world is exactly what cures us of our ailments, be they physical or mental. Remember during the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 when the entire world shut down for about 2 months? The pictures and videos that came out about how much the environment was healing in that short amount of time that we put our normal lives on pause showed us a hard truth: the Earth doesn’t have eco problems, it has ego problems. By that, I mean that with or without us the Earth and life will find a way. Humanity is its own greatest threat, and we are ultimately in the driver seat of our destiny as a species. Our ego problems are a sickness and a symptom of our sick society, and in cultivating a connection to nature we find the starting point for healing ourselves of this sickness.
Amidst of the grim messaging I’ve given you so far, however, there is a beacon of hope: scientists (mainly psychologists) have been publishing a growing body of research about the benefits we experience from spending time in nature.
The benefits of spending time in nature are numerous. Pick an area of mental, emotional, and physical health you would like to see improvements in and you will find it spending time in nature. Whether it’s time spent in a city park or a hike in the wilderness, spending just 2 hours immersed in nature per week has been shown to have massive benefits. Here’s a pretty exhaustive list of the benefits of spending time in nature:
Cognitive
Improves attentional functioning and self control behaviors in adults and children
Being exposed to natural environments improves working memory and cognitive flexibility
Decreases mental distress
Emotional
Increases happiness
Increases subjective well-being (you feel better)
Increases Positive Affect (cheerfulness, pride, enthusiasm, energy, and joy)
Improves and stimulates positive social interactions
Provides a sense of meaning and purpose in life
Nature provides us with a sense of awe and wonder, and this awe and wonder often leaves us feeling deeply connected with the rest of the world
Physical
Reduction in blood pressure and improvement in cardiovascular function
Reduction in blood glucose
Increases the number of NK cells (T-cells). NK cells kill tumors or virus infected cells!
Looking at this list, I can confidently say that when we spend time in our natural environment, the one that lives inside of us, the one that nurtures us, the one that we are made of, everything gets better. We get better.
If I could leave you with anything today, try to spend some time outside in the natural world this week. Remember: 2 hours is enough to change your entire physiology mentally, emotionally, cognitively, and physically.
Today, I would like to leave you with a simple question:
Do you feel connected to and in harmony with the natural world around you?
With all my heart and precious time,
Noah
