There is no doubt that our mindset impacts our health and wellness, not to mention our ability to meet fitness goals. Several studies have shown that how we think about health, food, and fitness has effects on our outcomes in these areas. Having a growth mindset—which means believing we can overcome setbacks, use the successes of others as motivation, and reach our goals through consistency and hard work—can help us reach our goals when it comes to wellness.
One way to improve our mindset is to expose ourselves to nature. The sky, trees, flowers, and grasses we look at every day can boost our mood and set us up for success in other areas. We can also improve other aspects of our health through our interactions with nature. Read on to learn more about this phenomenon and how to capitalize on it in your fitness routine.
Nature’s Health Benefits
A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) reviewed several other research studies to determine whether interacting with nature has health benefits. The answer was a resounding yes. In fact, the study showed that the benefits to our health are many.
According to the IJERPH study, benefits to our psychology and cognition include reduced fatigue, increased ability to pay attention, improved self-esteem, decreased anger and frustration, and reduced anxiety, to name a few. In addition, our spiritual health can be improved by exposure to nature, as can our social interactions. Being exposed to nature can make us feel uplifted, connected, and transcendent, and it can reduce violence, facilitate positive dealings with others, and promote cohesiveness in groups.
Furthermore, interacting with nature has positive impacts on other areas of our health. The IJERPH study noted that people who spent time in nature experienced lower rates of stress as measured by lower cortisol levels and lower blood pressure. It also showed reduced instances of headaches, respiratory disease, and long-term illness. In addition, those who required surgery healed faster if they had been exposed to nature during their recovery.
How to Integrate Nature into Workouts
With so many health benefits of interacting with nature, it only makes sense to integrate it into your workout routine. There are several options for bringing your strengthening regimen outdoors. These include running up hills, leaping onto and off park benches, or jumping rope, to name just a few. You can also do planks, lunges, squats, push-ups, sit-ups, side crunches, or the crabwalk outdoors as well as inside.
If you’re more interested in cardiovascular fitness than strength training, you can participate in outdoor events instead. A few options include signing up for running events such as marathons or going hiking. You can also participate in a variety of group sporting events outdoors, such as basketball, football, soccer, or volleyball. Tennis is another great sport that can be played outdoors, and with a pool, lake, or ocean nearby, you can also take your swimming outdoors.
If you want to focus on flexibility, yoga is ideal for the outdoors. Additionally, some personal trainers will work with their clients outside instead of in a gym. With so many options, it seems easy for almost anyone to integrate nature into their fitness routine.
However, what if the weather is bad or you live in an urban environment where grass and trees are scarce? The IJERPH article noted that several studies have shown positive interactions with nature aren’t limited to going outside. Being around indoor plants can benefit our health, as can simply looking out the window at the sky or looking at pictures of nature.
This means we can benefit from nature just by making sure we have some indoor plants, such as ferns, ivies, or succulents, in our home gym. Or, you can stretch out your yoga mat inside next to a window where we can see the sky. Another idea is to hang some pictures of beautiful nature scenes on the wall in the area where you do your sit-ups. Small changes like these can positively our fitness, our overall health, and our well-being.
Being a Role Model You might wonder how making these changes can impact not only yourself but also others. As the IJERPH article showed, exposure to nature has positive social impacts, so if we are benefiting as individuals, those around us benefit as well. In addition, we can help younger generations benefit from nature by modeling how easy it is to interact with nature.