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Home  |  Flourishing in Life  | Psychology of Wellness |Sunshine on My Shoulders

Sunshine On My Shoulders

BY: T. Franklin Murphy | October 2018
The Health Benefits of the Outdoors
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We need to escape our indoor prisons and bask in the beauties of nature. Outdoor escapes benefit us in mind, spirit and body.
In 1971 when John Denver released his hit song, Sunshine on My Shoulders, he may not have known the scientific backing to his verse but must have intuitively understood the glorious advantages of those golden rays. Massive changes have swept through modern society since John sang about sunshine on his shoulders nearly fifty years ago. The home computer was virtually unheard of and the phone still had a rotary dial. Now the computer and phone have merged and fit in your pocket. This nasty little technological wonder invades almost every minute of our lives, pulling us from the wonders of the natural world. We live life through a five-inch screen. For our health, and futures sake, put the phone back in your pocket, and explore the world through your senses, feeling, breathing, and looking at the wonders of nature.
#nature #wellness #recovery #happiness #psychology 
“Most of the luxuries and many so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” Henry David Thoreau
"Many of us need, like Mr. Thoreau, an escape to Walden Pond."
Technology blesses our lives in countless ways. Our health can either be enhanced or deteriorated through the integration of advances. Many of us need, like Mr. Thoreau, an escape to Walden Pond. Yesterday, wearied from a long week, I vegetated on the sofa in front of the television. Sunday Night Football about to begin. I felt unsettled. Maybe the prospects of writing this article on the benefits of the outdoors was weighing on my mind. I forced my self off of the comfortable cushion and wandered into the great suburban outdoors—my front yard.
 
I initially planned to simply care for a few roses deprived of water. Soon my wife joined me, with clippers in hand, then the dog. The gentle setting autumn sun warmed my face, competing with the cooling breeze. Watering the roses transitioned into fixing the drip system that was guilty for the withering roses. Ninety minutes later, chores completed and daylight waning, we wrapped up the work and returned to our protective four-walled cocoon, amazingly the earlier brewing dysthymia had been dispelled. A little sunshine on my shoulders was the prescription I needed to lift my spirits and rejuvenate my soul.
 
Richard Louv, in his book Last Child in the Woods, refers to a present-day ailment he calls “Nature Deficit Disorder” (2008). We don’t know what to do with the expansive world we live in, so we shrink and jam ourselves into a five-inch screen. I watched the gentleman in front me at this year’s firework display, filter the grandness of the experience through the screen of his iPhone; he watched a minimized version of reality, as it recorded. Put the phone back in your pocket.
 
Nature is more than a simple luxury, or a nice new age psychological gimmick. Science backs the health benefits of getting outdoors and enjoying nature. Studies have shown that outdoor exercise can enhance emotional well-being, amplifying the general benefits of exercise. Additional research has shown that simply being in green spaces, such as walking in a tree lined parked, is associated with better cognition and improved self-discipline (Seltenrich, 2015).

David Strayer, PhD. who studied nature’s effects on the brain at the University of Utah found that time outdoors enhances creativity and boosts performance and focus (Granada, 2018). Nature sharpens the axe of our mind, so we can conquer the challenging task of living. These findings support the theory of attention restoration. Healthy cognitions need a restorative break from the direct attention that much of our complex lives demand. Nature does just that. Our cognitions shift while in nature to a more relaxed state of attention, absorbing the passing stimuli not available in our more controlled environments. 
 
Morita therapy teaches that many problems in life cannot be banished with sheer force. We don’t take them on head on. We approach stubborn mental states in around about fashion, working on other areas of our psyche to restore and replenish well-being.
 
“It takes a lot of strength to knock down a wall of depression. It takes great courage to break through a wall of fear. But to simply go around the wall doesn’t require any strength or courage at all. It requires a bit of wisdom. It requires clarity of purpose. And it requires acceptance. We leave the ice intact. We leave the wall standing.”  (Krech, 2014. Loc. 1331).

 
Improving well-being by adding rejuvenating adventures outdoors is a go around technique. We add nourishment to our lives, gaining added benefits from addition rather than subtraction. Instead of subtracting the annoying elements of our psyche that bother us, we add experience that improves our overall states of being. A simple remedy to the general malaise of living is a little sunshine on our shoulders, so pull back the curtains, open the window, take a walk in the park and enjoy the beauty and the health of nature.
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Resources:
Granada, S. (2018) From the Outside In. Experience Life. June 2018 Issue

Krech, G (2014) The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology. ToDo Institute. Kindle Edition.

Louv, R. (2008) Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Algonquin Books

Seltenrich, N. (2015). Just What the Doctor Ordered: Using Parks to Improve Children's Health. Environmental Health Perspectives, 123(10). Retrieved from Questia.


FLS Link. The Motivational Influence of Anticipatory Joy: Episodic thought can propel us towards our dreams or fearfully tie us to our deplorable present. How and what we think matters.
FLS link. Posttraumatic Growth: Significant traumatizing events destroy our stable view of the world. From these ashes, growth is possible. We get back up, re-examine our world, adjust our expectations and move forward, a little wiser and stronger. We grow in response to the trauma.
Picture Link: Article- Evidence has mounted, strongly suggesting sugar is hazardous to our health. Health organizations has recommended consumption limits to fight the world obesity epidemic that contributes to non-communicable diseases. The Sugar Industry has fought to keep this from the consumers. We must take our health into our own hands.
There is no set-standard for a life well-lived. Cultures, families and religions have their own take. We must find something that works for us personally without hurting others along the way.
Our thoughts propel us into fruitful and prepared futures, but they also can haunt our peaceful moments with worry and guilt. By mindful attentiveness to the nature of our thoughts we can gain the benefits and limit the harm.
Small moments in life can pull our minds from careless wandering, creating rejuvenating moments of flow, full of purpose and wonder.
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Adding exercise to our lives can improve the quality of our well-being on many fronts, building a foundation for other improvements.

External Links:
External Link: Should we worry about screen time?
External Link: Here’s Why Time Off Work Actually IMPROVES Your Work and Life
External Link: How Nature Can Make You Kinder, Happier, and More Creative
External Link: There’s a dark side to meditation that no one talks about

FLS Link. Burnout: We can deplete energy through emotions, mental and physical exertions. When we push too hard, for too long, we burn out. Recovery requires a lifestyle change.
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It starts with a little thought, breaking free into a word and then an action. We must catch the thought early to divert the flow before we damage the relationships we cherish.
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Wellness on the Web
External Link: 7 self-care habits you should develop at work
External Link: Aging brains and how to keep them sharp
External Link: How Vitamins Went From Medical Marvel to Marketing Scam
External Link: Five easy steps to forming healthy, sustainable habits
We need to escape our indoor prisons and bask in the beauties of nature. Outdoor escapes benefit us in mind, spirit and body.
FLS Internal Links. The Best of 2017
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FLS link: The Best of 2019


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