What if you could both ease anxiety and enjoy your summer? If you struggle with anxiety, it is hard to enjoy anything. I know this from experience. When I was anxious, I hardly left the house; I was too distracted by the worrying thoughts, making it difficult to go places and be around people.
Staying home, inside, and alone, was the worst thing that I could have done. It made my anxiety worse, not better. In fact, not having my mind engaged in anything else gave the anxiety more of my brain space. My wild imagination cooked up worse and worse scenarios, making me feel more vulnerable and less willing to go out and socialize.
Going outside in nature is a “middle ground” (pun intended). It can help ease anxiety by getting you out of your head when you’re not ready for social interaction.
Five Ways Nature Eases Anxiety
1. Connection
Anxiety makes us feel separate & vulnerable, like we can’t handle the world. It is an “us versus them” feeling of being out of control. Time in nature reminds us that we are connected in so many ways. Listening to birds, witnessing wind blowing through the branches, and stepping over a mushroom on the trail. This connection helps you feel less alone, calming your mind, heart, and soul.
When you look at a leaf, smell a flower, or watch some rabbits play, these things enter our world.
2. Understand transience
Nature reminds us that life is never-ending. Flowers sprout, bloom, and fade. Growth and loss are both temporary. Empty spaces don’t stay bare for long.
When you are walking, notice the different stages of life, from the dried leaves under the brush to the new sprouts emerging from an old stump.
3. Gives us a larger perspective.
Your troubles are small compared to an ocean. There are more stars in the sky than worries in your heads.
Outside, you can let go of what you’re holding onto for a moment, and be part of something bigger than the constant fear and doubt.
4. Gives you Oxygen
Deep, slow breathing tells your brain that you are safe. Sometimes, when feeling anxiety, you forget to exhale. This can make you feel like you can’t breathe, but it just means your lungs are full.
Sit by a tree or a plant. Exhale long and slow. Inhale yummy fresh oxygen. Look at the plant’s texture, colors, and movement. Smell it.
Talk to the plant. Ask it anything you want.
5. Distraction
The other day on a hike, I saw a raccoon, a chipmunk, three frogs, countless birds, a squirrel, tons of wildflowers, and two butterflies.
I forgot about my to-do list when I was in the woods. It is amazing how 20 minutes of walking can ease anxiety and clear your mind.
Ease anxiety by walking outside
Shinrin Yoko is the Japanese therapeutic practice of walking in nature, engaging all five senses. Research has suggested that the scent of trees, the sound of brooks, and the feel of sunshine have a physiological calming effect (decreases cortisol up to 16%!). 👍🏻
Here’s An Old Video I Made about Healing Through Nature
Find some green space anywhere, even if it is a houseplant. Every day, and then especially when you are anxious, sit by it, look at it, smell it, feel it, and do some deep breathing.
What do you do when you are anxious?
I went for a walk yesterday morning. I needed it. The stress of what’s happening with my addition is too much to handle sometimes. I might need another walk today.
I give a thumbs up for all of these things. I might have said it before, but the most calming thing for me is going out under the stars at night and staring at them while breathing deeply and reminding myself how miniscule I am to the rest of the universe. Anxiety makes us feel like the world is crushing us, but that isn’t the case. I also use to have really bad anxiety and would stay in the house and it would end up making it worse. Act opposite your emotions is the way to go in situations like those : D. Thanks for the reminder about the importance of nature.
Yes Jodi! Nature is so-so-so very important for a peaceful and happy life. I live in the desert southwest and it get REALLY hot in the summer. So my husband and I rent a cabin up in the mountains for the month of August in this dinky little town. People always ask us, “what do you do up there all month?” And we just laugh and tell them “nature.” Some things are difficult to explain but you did it brilliantly. ~Kathy
YESSSSSSSSSS.
I love love love your videos so much, Jodi.
Connection w/ Nature. Beautiful.
God’s Creation. Magic.
you. are. beautiful. xxxx
Hi Jodi,
I too have felt the therapeutic powers of nature. The flowers, tossing their heads as if beckoning us to their side to share the smiles, the whispering pines filling our ears with unique form of music, the rustling of leaves, the waters gushing down the cascading streams, the gurgling waterfalls and myriad other sounds define the diversity that nature offers us! Even the setting sun leaves a message of hope for us…a new dawn. I love Nature in all its moods.
I have always felt that Nature is more than just a mother! She makes us perceptive, patient and perseverant. The lessons we learn in her lap are more profound than modern research results.
I believe in the subtle powers that nature has to offer those if you are willing to look for it. I have been walking every morning at a state park that is in close proximity of my apartment. It is very relaxing, and I find that the rest of my day is very stress free. I am very lucky because the wilderness is not too far from where I live. There is something about the sun shining down on your face with the wind blowing your hair while listening to the all of the animals in the forest.
Wow, didn’t know that it decreased cortisol, but that makes perfect sense. I find that even when I can’t be outside, just looking outside at something — flowers, birds, squirrels — lessens my anxiety. But of course, being outside is the best. p.s. I love that photo of you lying down. Full-body connection to Mother Earth = awesomesauce.
This is one of my favorite therapies, Jodi! Great tips. That picture of you is so cute. 🙂 It’s amazing how we can forget our worries when we focus on the mysteries and beauty of nature. For me, the ocean always works like magic.
Very insightful. I’ve never quite seen the beneficial nature of nature in this way. Thanks for another subtle but not too subtle mind opening.
Such wonderful tips and you look so beautiful in the photos. Looks beautiful in your neck of the woods. So lush. Reminds me how the Oprah magazine always featured a double-spread photo of a peaceful local, so that readers could look at the picture and feel a sense of calmness. That’s what your photos do for me. Thanks, Jodi!
Great points. I’ve blogged about using nature to relieve anxiety, but I love your specific tips, like lying on the ground. Thanks for sharing!
Great points. I’ve blogged about using nature to relieve anxiety, but I love your specific tips, like lying on the ground. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Jodi – as always, your advice is “right on” !! 🙂
Thanks, Kathleen, I’m glad you liked it!
Jodi,
I love your videos. They are full of easy and simple tips to counter stress and anxiety and many other mental health issues. Your style is great and emphatic. I have been sharing your videos on Facebook and my friends like them too. Thanks for the amazing library of knowledge in your tweets. I follow you regularly. Thanks and keep up the great work.