You will find yourself feeling calmer, relaxed, and more focused when you spend some time in nature. It’s a fact that we all feel relieved, and calmer when we spend a day or two someplace natural and take in nature’s splendor.
If you ever go camping you will return back a changed person and in a good way. Camping has several benefits not only physically but mentally as well. If you are curious to know why we feel relieved when camping, and what are its benefits then read on.
We spend countless hours on the internet and remain indoors indulging in social media apps in hopes of stimulating a more relaxed feeling. Now that might work, but a faster way would be to leave it all behind and go out exploring the wilderness. Why not leave all that technology behind once a while, and explore the real world for once?
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Camping is good for mental health, why?
Relieving stress, depression, and anxiety
Going outside may seem unappealing for those with anxiety issues, however, once they go out they overcome their anxieties rather soon, and feel relieved. Outdoor doesn’t necessarily have to mean crowded places with people, but rather it refers to nature.
Studies have proven that nature has quite a lot of positive impact on your mental health. Just by walking around in a grassy field, your mood will improve and you will feel more focused. All your negative emotions seem to dissipate the more time you spend outside in a natural location.
Exposure to nature can reduce stress, and help you think clearly. It makes you more focused, and you end up finding the solution to whatever was stressing you out. Spending time in green spaces significantly reduces your cortisol levels, which is really the stress hormones.
Cure for Insomnia
Can’t sleep at night, and don’t wanna take medicine? Try going for a walk in the woods, and your sleep schedule will be fixed instantly. Think of it as a reset button that completely revamps your sleep routine, and also improves the quality of your sleep. Also helps in relieving any other sleep-related problems.
It’s because sleeping away from artificial sources of light, and waking up under natural sunlight completely resets your circadian rhythm. This can make you feel refreshed and well-rested after a night’s sleep outside.
Forest Bathing
There is a Japanese trend known as the Shinrin Yoku which means Forest Bathing. It refers to going outdoors into the woods and using all your senses to experience and soak nature’s atmosphere, and the forest’s calming effects.
This practice itself basically tunes in through all the senses as you pay attention to the surrounding environment, and stare in awe at the beauty in front of you. In fact, ask yourself when was the last time you truly appreciated nature and truly embraced its ambiance?
Basking in a forest and generally just walking around can reduce all your psychological stress, depression symptoms and lifts up the mood.
Autonomy and Adventure
Camping instills one of the most important needs for our wellbeing, autonomy. This feeling of autonomy gives us the freedom to take the time off, and seek out adventure without limits. In other words, it makes you feel alive, and you can finish your daily tasks more easily and with less pressure. A total state of euphoria.
Nature-Deficit Disorder
Ever felt like you are living in an artificial world, and that nothing seems real anymore? You are probably suffering from nature deficit disorder which means you are spending far too much time indoors and are concerned with your screens and other devices.
That would not have been necessarily bad unless you count that the negative effects it has on your physical as well as mental health such as anxiety, obesity, lack of motivation and focus, and depression. Although camping will not instantly wipe the slate clean and relieve all of your physical and mental situations, a consistent outdoor life and a change in diet will improve your health, and make you feel happier with your life.
You don’t have to go across the country for this, keep it short and simple. Watering the plants, and mowing the lawn can help. One random act at a time.
Digital Detox
Social media and the internet have completely taken over our lives. It is true that we consume all the applications of social media in hopes of feeling better, but it doesn’t work out that way. if anything the wrong side of the internet can make you more miserable even though you were merely looking at cat photos.
Nature is a reset button, think of it as a detoxifier. Immersing yourself in nature, and becoming one with the natural environment will improve your lifestyle. It basically counteracts the time we spend online and rejects the poison that online media has fed us.
Forget thinking about the online influencers, they will only make you feel worse. Go outside for once, and you will forget all your worries, and maybe think of a solution.
Building Self-Reliance
Camping in the woods doesn’t mean you completely avoid any modern advancement, and start going primal instinct. Rather it refers to being self-reliant and doing things on your own. you could try a backcountry camping trip, or you can go camping on a private campground and enjoy the hot springs.
In either case, the idea of preparing your own food in a campfire can teach you a lot about being self-reliant. Putting in all the effort will give you a sense of achievement, and you will feel more purposeful.
Socializing and Solitude
Camping is one of the great ways to go out and socialize. You don’t actually have to be on your own and meet random strangers, instead, you can go camping with family and friends to a faraway location away from the modern world for a while.
Spending the entire evening in conversations, exploring the surrounding environment, and sitting around a campfire cooking food can refresh your spirit, improve your relationships with those you care about the most, and also enlighten your senses. Camping a splendid activity for anyone seeking solitude in a beautiful natural environment.
Grief Process and Coping Mechanism
If you are someone who is mourning or is grieving over a loss then nature can help in the process. This is primarily because nature causes a better coping mechanism, including an improved self-awareness, and a positively affected mood.
The positive effects of nature can affect the way you treat others. People will be more caring and have a positive mood when they are exposed to various forms of nature.
Other Benefits
Nature has numerous positive effects on mental health. Going camping, and coming in contact with nature has several restorative attributes such as increase energy, focus, and improved feelings of vitality. It is also shown that being around nature can reduce the symptoms of ADHD.
If you are someone who is stuck on a project, or an idea then being outside can help you focus and think more creatively. Being surrounded by lush green can restore your concentration and attention.
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