Your Brain Needs Vitamin N (nature)

Recently on a Saturday morning, I was driving to yoga class, with the windows down, the sunroof open, and tunes blasting. It was one of those brilliantly sunny days, in the mid-seventies with the humidity uncharacteristically low for August, and the air was buzzing with salient energy, life, and joy. Know what kind of day I mean?

As I whizzed along, enjoying the wind whipping my hair and sunshine warming my left arm, propped on the window opening, I noticed that very few other cars had their windows down.  “Why the heck not?” I wondered. It made me sad to see how disconnected people have become from their environment in this way as they sat in their closed off cars with the stale, recirculated air conditioning blowing on them.

Just One Hour in Nature Has Brain Benefits

OK. Some may legitimately claim allergies, but what about the rest?

Have we gotten so far removed from the Earth we live on, from the nature all around us that we can’t even enjoy, much less exist, in it without our modern comforts creating an artificial, and, often, unhealthy environment? Have we forgotten that we are part of and vitally connected to the trees, the grass, and other life all around us?

Fresh air produced in natural settings, around trees, and moving water, is good for you and your brain for many reasons. Away from the smog of cities, fresh air, being more ionized, has a different chemical makeup which is better for your body. This purer air cleans your lungs and is filled with the oxygen your brain loves.

Modern research is showing what many have known all along, that communing with nature can improve your memory, focus, and attention. After just an hour of interacting with nature, memory and attention span improved by 20%.

Nature-Deficit Disorder

In his book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv, introduces the term “nature-deficit disorder” to describe the growing gap between nature and people, specifically kids, and the consequences.  Louv refers to a dose of green, nature, as “vitamin N.”

In his book, Louv writes:

A growing body of research links more time in nature — or in home, work or hospital environments enhanced through nature-based design — with reduction of stress and depression, faster healing time and less need for pain medication. …Other benefits of vitamin N include enhanced use of the senses and higher work productivity.”

Ways to Prevent Vitamin N Deficiency

The article, “What is ‘nature deficit disorder,’ and can the outdoors really make us feel better?” suggests the following ways to prevent it:

• Turn off the technology – Instead of sitting in front of the TV or tablet for a few hours, replace it with outdoor time. Head out to your own backyard, take a walk or play with your kids at a neighborhood park.
• Find a new outdoor activity – Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn how to play tennis or golf. You can likely get equipment secondhand, and it never hurts to check with your local parks and recreation department to see if they offer free or reduced-price classes.
• Have fun in all four seasons – Build a snowman or go sledding in the winter; play in the rain or do a neighborhood cleanup in the spring; go for a swim or have a picnic in the summer; and go leaf peeping or to an apple orchard in the fall. The options for outdoor fun are endless.
• Become involved with your community – Chances are, there are plenty of outdoor volunteer opportunities where you live. Park cleanup, home building and charity races are all easy ways to get the whole family involved and give back.
• Green up your space – If you work from home, set up a workspace that has lots of natural light, preferably facing outside. The same goes for kids and homework – if the weather is nice, have them complete it outdoors or set them up at a desk near a window.
• Try forest bathing – A safe stroll in the woods has a lot of mental and physical health benefits, and can reduce stress and anxiety. There are even studies that show natural essential oils breathed in from wood and plants can give your immune system a boost.

Conclusion

When exercising outside, you breathe more deeply, bathing your brain and muscles with even more oxygen. Your brain, an oxygen hog, uses twenty percent of your body’s oxygen. Other studies show that people who exercise outside exercised longer, more often, and reaped slight physical and psychological benefits. The benefit might have to do with getting a healthy dose of sunlight and vitamin D, which many Americans are lacking due to indoor lifestyles.

On the next pretty, warm day (or even chilly — invigorating!) roll down the car windows or open the windows in your home.

Go for a walk, run, or hike.

Take up gardening and get the added benefit of being able to eat your efforts.

Go camping under the stars and do some heavenly exploration.

Sit on a park bench and just breathe the fresh air.

Your brain and body will thank you.