Why is walking in the woods so good for you?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/fitness/why-is-walking-in-the-woods-so-good-for-you/article4209703/

A very interesting article. Hiking makes us smarter, helps with depression, improves the immune system, reduces stress and lowers blood pressure, and so on.

Of course we already knew that, didn't we?

A very good read Peter, thank you for posting this link!

I especially liked the explanation of voluntary and involuntary attention.

I would have to agree that my own experiences have been the same as this article states.

I have a stressful job and time in the woods does me a world of good!

Mike G.

I read something about it balancing the budget too, but that probably was an overstatement.

Ed

Thanks for the link, Peter!...Have you read "Born to Run"? Very similar conclusions reached...

We are programmed for the Pleistocene.  Going out there unplugs people, it taps into their subconscious, uses up nervous energy, allows for pattern recognition in repeating forms,  awakens their primitive senses, etc.  No wonder it calms us down.

ppine said:

We are programmed for the Pleistocene.  Going out there unplugs people, it taps into their subconscious, uses up nervous energy, allows for pattern recognition in repeating forms,  awakens their primitive senses, etc.  No wonder it calms us down.

 Totally agree.  We are neanderthals first and foremost---hominids---and we are mammals and animals.  Why shouldn't we go outdoors and hike or live outdoors?

The article mentions clean air and a lack of noise pollution---obviously the author never hiked in East Tennessee which has the worst air quality in the national park system and suffers from a near-constant bombardment of overhead jet traffic noise.  But it's gotta be better than sitting on a couch inside an outgassing doublewide.

East Tennessee? Sounds sad.

Still better than being inside, I think.

T Walter,

I used to have an 18 foot Lakota tipi that rotted out.  It had a magic affect on people.  How did you get your name?

ppine said:

T Walter,

I used to have an 18 foot Lakota tipi that rotted out.  It had a magic affect on people.  How did you get your name?

 Lived in one for 21 years.

TW,

Nice answer.  Why is being in a tipi so good for you?

Hiking is good for you because it is the natural state of human beings to be physically moving and to experience a variable environment. To see and touch natural things all day is where we come from. 

Sitting in an office all day touching man made materials, in a man made environment with unnatural symetry to everthing is a form of slow torture. Doing ANYTHING all day (unless motivated by passion) is completely unnatural and surely contributes to why so many ppl are nuts.  

Ok, I'll go read the article now.  But thats my take.  :)

the smell

and the exercise

I see this is an older post. Thanks for the thread, Peter. Eco-psychology is a relatively new discipline that addresses our relationship between the natural world and the built world. Richard Louv, in his book, The Last Child in the Woods, talks about how the children have improved cognitive brain function from being exposed to the natural world at an early age. While some proponents of the discipline are more outside the mainstream science and don't see a need for clinical studies, there are many eco-psychologists who are conducting studies that show conclusive evidence that supports Louv's ideas. The natural world takes us away from the Random Sensory Overload we often experience in a built environment.

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