April 2005
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April 2005 |
“THE OUTDOORS - NATURE'S ANTIDOTE” by Jessica Kuzmier
It is said that the outdoors can act as a healing balm for the soul. It is not unheard of that people with emotional difficulties actually fare better than they would normally on a wilderness expedition. The theory seems to be that the simplification of life to its basic essences seems to modify the emotional turmoil of the mentally ill. That being so, it is perhaps of therapeutic benefit to encourage more outdoor adventures for all people, emotionally imbalanced or not. Most of life contains stressors that are probably not attuned to natural instincts. Many stress related disorders are due to an overuse of the "fight or flight" response. According to many historians, scientists and archaeologists, this impulse was designed to enable a person to deal with potentially being attacked by larger animals; which is a life and death matter. It wasn't designed for stresses that didn't directly threaten one's life, like a hassle at work with a co-worker, or constant stressors, such as those that require elaborate multi-tasking. The constant state of "fight or flight" being enabled has been known to increase stress, which in turn, causes more illness, physical and mental. Perhaps the additional implication is that a person is not supposed to be under constant stress. Going along with the archaeologist model, nomadic living would have been less stressful than our modern life, even though it would seem that the search for food in a scarce environment would have been itself stressful. Still, that is a life or death reality, and nothing to do with traffic jams. Being outdoors seems to make a person more attuned to his or her environment, which seemingly should increase personal harmony.  An outdoor adventure, even if it is a walk in a city park, enables a person to pull away from these so-called artificial stresses and deal with him or herself directly. Many Native American tribes engage in what is known as a "vision quest", where a person goes to the wilderness for a given length of time alone to see what path he or she is to take, or to get in touch with the Supreme Being. Jesus retreated to the desert frequently, and his contemporary Essenes also retreated to the desert to have a closer relationship with God. No one ever suggests to commune with a fax machine, but "communing with nature" is pretty much a cliche. Very few of us are going to sell our possessions to live in the woods or the bush anytime soon. But maybe a great antidote to stress or other modern hazards is located just outside your front door. Whether it is doing yard work, planting a garden, sniffing a flower, hiking, or skateboarding, just the change of atmosphere may be enough to get a different perspective of things. With the spring upon those in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a great chance to shake off cabin fever and gain a fresh outlook. All you have to do is open the door and walk outside. |