Oh, Go Take a Hike!!

 

No really, go take a hike its good for you.

We sit at a desk, staring at a computer, answering phones, meeting deadline after deadline, talking with stressful people about stressful things.  Every day over and over.   Daydreaming about  a  vacation.   I bet all that daydreaming does not include being indoors.  I know it doesn’t for me.

I love to be outside. I have since I was a little girl . I cant wait to find a new hiking spot or a new place to camp. 

Do you ever notice that you feel a million times less stressed out when you are outdoors? I don’t mean the kind of outdoors where you are sitting next to a building having a smoke break, or walking around a neighborhood. I am talking about out in nature like a state park, or a local hiking trail. 

There is a reason you experience a euphoric feeling. Where you take your walks makes a difference.  It changes not just your attitude but your brain’s performance.  A study was done at the University of Michigan, researchers found that walking in a park enhances your brains cognitive ability……. unlike walking in the city. 

Think about it, when you’re strolling down the street in the city, your mind is constantly bombarded with stimuli. 

Negative stimuli at that. You are on constant alert.  Looking for  traffic, lights are changing, cars are noisy, babies are crying and you are watching your back so you don’t get mugged. These are all things that make your brain go into high alert.  How can you relax when your concentrating so hard on not being killed by traffic?

Being in nature not only helps your cognitive ability it has also been  shown to cause less stress, lowered anger, improved job performance, faster recoveries. 

Why is this important to you? 

Well not only is frolicking in the woods  good for your health and mental stability, it’s good for the state and local parks as well.  Besides how often do you get to frolic? 

The only green parks are seeing now a days  are the leaves, not money.  State Parks are losing funding. Money wins in our system so the state parks have been declining over the years. 

People have fought for years to keep our environmental safe, but it seems that all the passion for our earth is disappearing as quickly as the forests.

Its important for us to understand what is going on around us and why. More importantly we need to voice our opinions when something is happening we don’t like. 

What we care about DOES matter. 

There is much more to life than a fabricated urban environment. If you stop and look around you will be amazed at the life and beauty around you.  We need to all enjoy and appreciate the beauty the earth has to offer before we pave over the whole thing. 

So how can you make a difference?

Visit your local parks. Let your local government know that you are not ok with them shutting down a vital public resource.

Not familiar with where your local parks are?

Find one here  http://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm

You can make a difference.

WE all can. Not just for our parks but for ourselves. 

We deserve to live in enjoy a beautiful environment.

Trust me your brain will thank you for it.

What do you enjoy when your out in the environment?  I would love to know!

References: 

psychology today may/June 2009 Think outside the block