‘Live In Accordance With Nature’
WELLBEING
I think there is so much to love and take influence from with stoic philosophy. One of the central principles of stoicism is to ‘live in accordance with nature’ and whilst this principle developed to include our own and the nature of others I want to highlight the simple but highly impactful benefits of nature and the outdoors.
Seems simple right? But is there any science to show this actually benefits us? Yes, lots!
Walking outside and being close to nature has been widely recognised for its health benefits, both psychologically and physically. Here’s a summary of the findings from research papers on this topic:
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Psychological Wellbeing Improvement: Walking outside, especially when engaging cognitively with the environment, can significantly enhance psychological well-being, including attentional functioning and reduced feelings of frustration (Duvall, 2011).
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Enhanced Mood and Well-being: Nature walks are associated with increased enjoyment, positive affect, and a subjective sense of connection with nature, which is linked to environmentally sustainable behaviour (Nisbet & Zelenski, 2011).
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Stress Reduction: Group walks in natural environments can lead to less perceived stress compared to urban environments (Marselle, Irvine, & Warber, 2013).
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Reduced Depression and Anxiety: While the evidence is more consistent for reducing state anxiety, nature walks show potential for alleviating symptoms of depression as well (Kotera, Lyons, Vione, & Norton, 2021).
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Cognitive Benefits: Walking in natural environments as opposed to built environments has been shown to improve cognitive performance and induce a higher level of meditative state (Bailey, Allen, Herndon, & Demastus, 2018).
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Physiological Health Benefits: There’s evidence that walking groups have significant health benefits, including improvements in blood pressure, resting heart rate, body fat, body mass index, total cholesterol, and enhancements in VO2max (Hanson & Jones, 2015).
So ignore the weather and get outside as often as you can. The benefits are huge both physically and mentally.
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