[RumiDude]

Here's some food for thought. I find I agree with the idea presented. I know I feel my mind is clearer, whatever that is, whenever I am out in nature. This is especially true when I get into the backcountry for extended periods. A few days is good, several days is even better, and extended periods are truly transcendent. Anyway, this video essay posits that it isn't just that being outside changes how we feel, but how we think. There are many things about our brain we don't understand, but one thing is clear from simple anatomy, our brain is part of our nervous system and our nervous system encompasses our entire body. And brain researches tell us there are more neural pathways sending signals to our brain that those from the brain to our body. From the video: "The neuroscientist Antonio Damasio has influentially argued that we think with our bodies as much as our minds – we feel sensations, emotions, affects on our bodies – the pressure on the feet, the photon on the eye, the quickening of the heart – before we think." So if you take the time to watch the video or read the script, which is linked here, share your thoughts with me. What stood out as insightful? What have been your experiences with the outdoors not just benefiting your well-being but shaping how you think? What did you disagree with and/or agree with?

Remember, the truth is outside! Rumi PS: “When people state the common belief that being in nature relaxes them, that it helps them recover from stress and tragedy, that it’s a healing process to be in nature, we now know there’s a solid basis for that. The research has been done and it is true that it’s good for the human mind to be able to live and experience in really natural situations. Instinctively, without understanding what’s happening, they know that in certain wild environments, they have come home.” ~~Edward O. Wilson

[dylpickle]

There is a growing body of research to support this video essay. Other cultures have been using nature-based treatments to promote all facets of wellness for years. This trend of (re)connecting with nature has been growing in North America as a replacement or supplement to western models of healthcare and behavioral care. Here is meta analysis of nature therapy in Japan: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/8/781/pdf A Scandinavian journal review (paywall): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1403494810396400?journalCode=sjpc A review of Sherin-Yoku (forest bathing) and Nature Therapy: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/8/851 But, I think anyone who has had a long week and has been able to unplug for a few hours in their nature of choice, can attest to the difference it makes in their sense of well-being and doesn't need scientific literature to substantiate it.

[NightOwl]

It seems like common sense to me. Getting grounded in nature and the body is the healthiest thing you can do in a modern society that is obsessed with hyper-abstraction and human artifice, imo. But can natural therapies compete with Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Media, etc., which are happy to keep everyone inside hooked on their drugs, tech and media? And can people resist the aggressive totalist ideology that insists that more technology is always better, and any move back to simpler, time-tested ways of life amounts to sinning? At this point I don’t really care about scientific studies -- that whole mentality of outsourcing your opinions to experts is part of the problem. Truth is found in nature and one’s own body and experience, not in some abstract expert opinions. A couple of sayings come to mind:

[Celticclimber]

I agree whole heartedly with what Night Owl wrote: At this point I don’t really care about scientific studies -- that whole mentality of outsourcing your opinions to experts is part of the problem. Truth is found in nature and one’s own body and experience, not in some abstract expert opinions. I'm sure we are preaching to choir in NWH. Tho' it is nice that science does confirm what we all know. Unfortunately we need science to get laws passed to protect the wild places: Emotions/feelings don't count at all .

[Malachai Constant]

When working downtown I often took a long walk along the waterfront if I had a particularly difficult legal or technical question. The solutions I came up with were almost always the correct or at least successful ones. Walking alone clarifies the mind and eliminates distractions.