10 Benefits of Nature + How to Get Outside More → A More Beautiful Life Collective

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In this post, we are talking about 10 benefits of nature and why getting outside can even be a spiritual discipline. Then, we talk about some tips and tricks for getting outside so that you can get those benefits and worship God more. Nature can truly be transcendental.

S1E40 – What is Theology Proper?: 3 Questions to Help You Know God Better – A More Beautiful Life Collective Podcast

We have to start our study of theology by looking at Theology Proper. This is the study of who God is, what God is like, and what God’s nature is. As we look at theology proper, we are focusing primarily on how knowing God more leads to (1) worship and (2) a deeper love. Our study of God should inspire us to know and love God more and more. This podcast will dive into 3 questions that will help you to know God better to start your study of Theology Proper. The Deuteronomy 34 passage is actually EXODUS* 34:5-7. Sorry! View the full post here. Get the Doctrine and Theology Cheat Sheet Here. Get a list of the names of God here. Get a copy of our personal statement of faith creation guide here. Get “Building Our Foundations: 10 Week Study” here. . Visit our Shop to get a copy of any of the resources mentioned in this episode: Read the full post here. I’m your host, Cayce Fletcher, and you can learn a little bit more about me here. While you’re here, would you consider leaving a comment, rating, or review? You can find our podcast, A More Beautiful Life Collective Podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube. Subscribe to the blog for access to our latest content and some freebies. I love creating and sharing resources with you. You can find all of our resources at A More Beautiful Life Collective Shop. Keep creating a life you love, and cultivating your heart for God.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Hey everyone, this is Season 1 Episode 37. There’s a picture that has been going around online for a while that depicts the evolution of man. It starts with the caveman with a sloping back – the quintessential image of a Neanderthal and moves to the upright modern man. However, with each new invention of the industrial era, man slowly starts to revert back to his previous primitive shape. At last, he is slumped over staring at his phone.

It seems like this image is an alarmist and cynical take on the wonders of technology. Power tools and other modern conveniences have changed our lives for the better right? I was recently watching a show on Amazon Prime called Victorian Farm. Even 150 years ago, the quality of life – along with the drudgery of cleaning, scrubbing, plowing, and harvesting – was so different. But, I don’t know if all of the changes will be looked back upon with fondness.

Recently chiropractors have learned that there is some credence to this evolution of man. They call it ‘tech neck,’ and it is a new condition caused by how we stare at our phones. The lowering of our head to 60 degrees adds an additional 60 lbs of weight to our spine, changing its curvature. This ‘Digital Age Posture’ can cause chronic neck and back pain, increased risk of spinal degeneration, and impaired respiratory function (along with the mental health effects of staring at our phones).

We seem to be going backwards not forwards to the detriment of our bodies and minds. Because of screens, we are missing out on so much including 10 benefits of nature. What’s the solution? One solution is going no screens. Another could be building routines of work and rest in our lives – particularly rest without screens.

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If we stop there, we may have a better relationship with technology, but we will have stopped short of something that could produce even more lasting change.

When we want to digitally declutter our lives, we don’t just ‘delete’ things out of our lives. That often just leads to a vacuum where we will add the next shiny thing without discretion back into the hole that is created.

Instead, we want to replace our tech use with something better. What would that be?

Time outside.

The Natural Part of Humanity

This point has been made so much that it is almost cliche, but it still bears repeating: We are living in a state that we are unprepared for. Society – thought, culture, habits, beliefs, knowledge – has not caught up with the pace of technology. The role of technology, and the way that it pulls us away from the outdoors and each other, is unprecedented.

For millennia, we lived, breathed, and worked outside. The indoors were a respite from the cold and bad weather, but they were not a place where you stayed day in and day out. Many of the conveniences that have made us ‘couch potatoes’ have only existed for a hundred years. Before that, people spent their lives working outside.

Even the deep knowledge of the past all centered around life outdoors. Constellations. Herbs. Hunting and Animal Tracking. All things that are lost to time. Some of us pick up these ‘old-fashioned’ skills as hobbies in our spare time, but most of us would be at a loss if we were dropped on the side of the road and forced to spend a day outside, much less an entire lifetime.

Recently, there has been a large movement of people who have recognized these issues with modern living. Homesteading groups and small farmers are on the rise. With a rising cost of living, we are looking to get back to the peace and simplicity of nature.

Today, we are going to talk about the importance of getting outside, including why this might be a concept that is not just popular but also biblical. I’m going to give you some ideas for how to incorporate more time outside into your life and then give you some tips and tricks to ‘up your hours.’ We’ll focus on 10 benefits of nature that will show you why it is so important to get outside.

10 Benefits of Nature

Years ago, it would have been silly to talk about the importance of getting outside. Going outside – to walk to work, your church, friends’ homes, and other public spaces – was just a given, not to mention the hours you would have to spend outside taking care of your crops and livestock.

However, the modern world is a different place. Because of electric lights, we don’t have to go outside to get away from the dim, drabness of houses. Houses expanded to accommodate the more time spent in them, while at the same time becoming much more comfortable to spend time in with central air and heating. Gardening and homesteading became hobby pursuits instead of a necessity of living. Cars and other public transportation took over the time normally spent walking to work outside.

Because of all these changes, we can live our whole lives in the cocoon of being inside. Sometimes, it’s safer and more comfortable inside – not to mention a whole lot less dirty and sweaty.

So if we can live our whole lives inside, should we?

Made to get outside

If we look at the creation story, we were created to live in a garden. We were created for the outdoors, to live in and work in nature, and to reap the rewards of that work. The curse messed up our relationship with work and nature, but still for years and years, people just lived in a symbiotic relationship with nature.

Because we were made to live and work in the great outdoors, being outside is incredibly beneficial for us. Again, I think it’s important to emphasize this. God made us to be outside. Because of this, we have to be outside to be fully formed, creatures. We are missing something if we live indoors all the time.

Here are some benefits of getting outside:

10 Benefits of Nature – #1: Improves our Eyesight

Our eyesight is better developed if we get outside because we only use the muscles to see a long way outdoors. We risk becoming near-sighted if we stay inside all the time.

In addition to this, the difference in lighting levels between outside and inside can affect our eyesight. Lack of outdoor time can increase myopia and cataracts.

10 Benefits of Nature – #2: Straightens Our Spine

When we are inside, we are often filling the hours with screens. This leads to a change in the curvature of our spines (as mentioned) and comes with a host of mental health problems. When we get outside, we can practice good posture, including looking up at the sky and the horizon, which can fight against tech neck.

10 Benefits of Nature – #3: Boosts Happiness

Fresh air, which increases oxygen levels in our brains, raises serotonin levels, as does exposure to beneficial microorganisms found in soil. Our brain also releases serotonin when sunlight hits our skin and eyes. In fact, natural light plays a role in several mood-related processes.

In addition to this, being outside also helps us get enough Vitamin D and helps our bodies to produce Melatonin at the right time, improving our sleep.

All of these functions are crucial to our mental well-being… and our happiness.

10 Benefits of Nature – #4: Corrects our Circadian Rhythm

The lumens given off by the sun are exponentially (11,080–18,176 lux) higher than what is emitted by the lights inside (112–156 lux). We need the change in light from very dark nights and very light days to set our circadian rhythm, which is important for so many reasons.

An improved circadian rhythm helps you to sleep better each night which will lead to better health overall.

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10 Benefits of Nature – #5: Switches our brain waves to the Alpha Brain wave.

Our brains go into a certain type of brain wave when we are outside which is important for creative processing. When we look at screens, we never can get in that brainwave.

Just check out this research:

“Research has shown that when people view naturally occurring fractals in nature, it increases the alpha brainwave activity in their brain. Alpha waves are produced when people are relaxed and they are linked to physiological health benefits, these benefits can be measured even when fractal patterns are only viewed for a short period. Alpha waves also have a positive effect on concentration and attention span. This might account for why Kaplan and Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory suggests that spending time in nature, and around naturally-occurring fractals, can have such a uniquely restorative effect on us, both cognitively and mentally.”
“Today, technology is allowing neuroscientists to take some of their measurement devices into the field, like these portable EEG units that are capable of measuring brain waves, away from the lab. Neuroscientists, especially in the U.K. and U.S., are starting to look at how people’s brains respond to different environments. What they’re seeing is that if their volunteers are walking through a city or noisy area, their brains are doing different things than if they are walking in a park. The frontal lobe, the part of our brain that’s hyper-engaged in modern life, deactivates a little when you are outside. Alpha waves, which indicate a calm but alert state, grow stronger. When psychologists talk about flow there seems to be a lot of alpha engagement there. Buddhist monks, meditators, are also great at engaging alpha waves.” ~ Nat Geo

10 Benefits of Nature – #6: Helps Us Get Our Daily Dose of Vitamin D

Vitamin D is important for your bones, blood cells, and immune system. The best way to get Vitamin D is to spend time outside. We should get at least 30 minutes of sun exposure a day to get the right amount of Vitamin D.

10 Benefits of Nature – #7: Improves Our Immune System.

In addition to helping us get Vitamin D, being outside in nature also challenges our immune system. Our immune system must be challenged in order to grow stronger. People who spend too much time indoors often have a weaker immune system than those who spend time outside in nature.

10 Benefits of Nature – #8: Leads to a more active and healthy lifestyle.

Many of the activities that we do outside are related to active living. Walking, biking, gardening, and hiking are all great exercise that also helps you to manage your weight. Gardening also helps you to grow your own food, leading to a healthier diet as well. If you are trying to get your regular daily exercise, try just moving around outside. It often is a harder workout than something like running or walking on the treadmill because of wind resistance and natural changes in terrain.

10 Benefits of Nature – #9: Improves your short-term memory.

Being outside can also improve your short-term working memory according to a study by the University of Michigan. Walking 20 minutes in a natural location improved students working memory scores by 20 percent. Scientists speculated that nature is calm and relaxing. The lack of distractions like screens, traffic, and noise pollution can improve your ability to focus. It is like a detox for your brain.

10 Benefits of Nature – #10: Increases our longevity.

Being Outside, especially near nature, has been proven in multiple studies to increase our longevity. Women who lived near parks, lakes, and trees had a lower mortality than those who didn’t. Those who lived in the Blue Zones – people who regularly lived healthy lives into their 80s and 90s – often lived in walkable locations and their lifestyles involved getting outside often.

As you can see from the 10 benefits of nature, getting outside is important for our health.

Research about the importance of outside continuing to grow, giving more and more reasons. As we think about this, I think we can see how God designed us to be outside to make us healthy, balanced, strong people.

Being outside changes the way our brain functions. And, importantly changes our mindset. Inside, we’ve made human-sized lives. Everything is under our control. It’s domesticated and sanitized. Predictable.

When we get outside, we recognize our place in this world in a way that we don’t when we are inside. Next to a tree, we recognize our smallness. Next to some of the risks of nature, we recognize our inability to control everything. When we grow crops or work with livestock, we learn how important it is to trust in God. We learn problem-solving. We learn resilience.

More resources about the importance of getting outside:

Is there a spiritual benefit to getting outside?

We can recognize the 10 benefits of nature for our physical lives, but is there also a benefit to our spiritual selves?

When we go outside, we literally must look up and recognize the vastness of the universe. And, as we look at the beauty and vastness of nature, we come face-to-face with the beauty and vastness of our creator.

Getting outside literally changes us from being near-sighted about our lives to being far-sighted. We become self-focused to God-focused, kingdom-focused.

The question becomes: Is getting outside a spiritual practice?

In Biblical times, getting outside was just a given. But, still, we see glimpses of how getting outside in nature can be a form of spiritual discipline.

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Psalm 8:3-4: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 120:1 I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from?

In each of these verses, being outside means being confronted with the grandeur of creation. That grandeur is moving. Specifically, it moves people to worship. When people come face-to-face with nature, they are brought face-to-face with God. When we spend time outside, we worship God because of all that he can create. We are reminded of the existence of him.

In this way, spending time outside can be a form of spiritual discipline. It can be part of our worship – one that I think we need to practice more often due to the pervasive nature of screens and other issues with the modern mindset.

Does being outside replace other spiritual disciplines?

This is not a new concept. In fact, in the modern age, people are reminded of this. Even people who are not religious talk about the transcendence of nature and the importance and beauty of it. However, there is an important caveat. Is nature the end all – be all? Does it replace church and other spiritual disciplines?

Well, no. You can’t just say, “My church is being outside.” You also have to follow the other disciplines mentioned in scripture, and part of that is going to meet with other believers. Being outside can lead to worship, but we still have to practice regular prayer and bible reading (in addition to all the other important spiritual disciplines). It’s just important to recognize that yes, being outside can have a spiritual component to it.

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How many hours should we spend outside?

At this point, you might be nodding your head along in agreement. Maybe you love getting outside, maybe it is one of your least favorite things to do. But, you can recognize the 10 benefits of nature.

The next question is: How many hours should we spend? Is just a few minutes enough? What aboue 30 minutes? An hour? All day?

A 2019 study by Scientific Reports recommends spending at least 120 minutes outside a week to get benefits. Another recommendation is to spend at least 20 minutes outside a day to improve mental health and vitality. The “20-5-3 Rule” is a wellness guideline that suggests spending 20 minutes outside each day, five hours in a natural setting each month, and three days in a wild, off-grid setting each year.

Charlotte Mason, a 19th-century educator, recommends 4-6 hours a day for children. The 1,000 Hours Outside Podcast challenges parents to get outside for 1,000 hours throughout the year (to combat screentime which is said to be between 4-6 hours per day per child). This averages to roughly 3 hours a day.

Getting kids outside often is especially important. Kids who don’t get enough time outside have a higher risk of diabetes, obesity, anxiety, depression, and hypertension.

Regardless of the actual amount, the important thing is to just get out the door. Try getting outside every day for just a few minutes. Often just getting out the door will lead to more time outside. You’ll find you want to stay out there longer and longer. Any bit will get you a long way towards getting those 10 benefits of nature.

What should we do outside?

Next comes the question: Well, what do you do outside if you are spending that much time out there?

Well, this is what you are not doing:

Being on screens
Constantly cleaning
Being on more screens
Stressing about social media
Vegging out on the couch
Watching your toddler destroy the house as you stress about how you just cleaned it
Being on more screens

This sounds like many of our days, right?

When you are outside, you can do so many things. In fact, Charlotte Mason said, “Never be within doors when you can rightly be without.”

Some ideas for what you can do outside:

Create a natural play area for your kids with a Mud Kitchen, Stumps, Rocks, and Sticks
Garden and grow your ownvegetables, fruits, and flowers
Explore the natural area around you by going on nature walks
Keep a nature journal
Go hiking in the local, state, and national parks close by
Get a good book and read outside
Have a picnic (or just eat outside on the back deck)
Play sports as a family
Ride Bikes
Go for a run
Exercise
Work
And so much more…

Really, once you start to think about it, you begin to realize that you begin to wonder: “What can’t be done outside?”

As you find more activities and up your tolerance to the elements, you will start to spend more and more time outside. Maybe you’ll even complete the 1,000 hours outside challenge!

Tips and Tricks for Getting Outside More

We all want to get the 10 benefits of nature, but how can we get consistently outside enough to get them? Most of our life happens indoors, so we have to work at getting our outside time in.

Though we don’t always hit that 2-3 hour mark which is my goal, I do try to spend some time outside each day. Here’s what I’ve learned over the past year from spending so much time outside. Many of these recommendations are for parents with young kids, but you can definitely apply them to your stage of life.

Prepare a Spot: Set up a place outside that can be your hang-out spot.
Get Dressed: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing” is a quote by Alfred Wainwright. Many of us are used to our perfectly temperature-controlled houses. We need to recognize that the weather plays a role in our lives. Dress in layers. Bundle up in the wintertime. Research the warmest (and coolest) types of fabrics. Research what’s the best type of clothing for where you live. Your tolerance to cold and heat will go up over time.
Make a Go Bag: Put kid’s toys, snacks, a picnic blanket, and a good book (along with sunscreen and bug spray) in a bag by your door so that you can go quickly outside when you can.
Keep your car packed: Keep your car stocked with supplies. I keep my kids’ bikes (toddler-sized), chalk, and their chairs in my car with a stroller.
Explore: Kids get bored of being in the same place all the time. A little boredom is beautiful, but if you find that everyone is getting antsy (including you), explore your town. There are so many (free) playgrounds, parks, and trails that you may never have been to.
Slow Down: When you are outside, the magic happens once everyone has calmed down and settled into what they are doing. Don’t rush from one place to the next, and don’t focus on entertaining. Give yourself at least 30 minutes outside. If you find yourself starting to get restless, bring a book or some other thing to do while the kids play.
Get a hobby: Though I think that it’s great to just relax and enjoy the great outdoors, you can also find your next favorite thing to do. Look into hiking, biking, gardening, or some hobby that you can do outside to keep you coming back. Camping is another great way to log some hours (since you spend the bulk of your time outside) and opens your mind to a whole new lifestyle.
Track your time: Part of the beauty of the 1,000 hours outside challenge is that people can track their hours and see their progress throughout the year. Again, your goal may not be 3 hours a day, but tracking your time each day can help you see your progress throughout the year. Taking pictures and videos will also help you to remember some great memories.

Now You Try:

Today, we talked about the importance of getting outside, including 10 benefits of nature. It is beneficial for our health and can even be a spiritual discipline as it leads us to worship.

Each day, we should try to get outside for a minimum of 20 minutes, though more time leads to more benefits. You can check out the sites below for some ideas about getting outside.

What do you think? Do you try to spend time outside each day? How much time? What would you add to our tips and tricks?

Comment below, or find us on Instagram or Facebook and join the conversation there. Remember to like and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube to never miss an episode.

You can also subscribe to our email list to get FREEBIEs every Friday and a FREE Hours Outside Tracker.

Until next week, keep creating a life you love and cultivating your heart for God.

More websites about tips and tricks for getting outside:

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