Effects of Nature on the Brain

I was on a hike the other weekend talking to my friend and she said she thought it was weird that some people just aren’t into nature, they just don’t like it. I agree that it seems strange but I also have a theory on this. If you’re “not a nature person”, it isn’t because you inherently were born that way, none of us are…there isn’t a gene that causes you to not like nature. In fact, I believe it is quite the opposite. Usually the people that think they don’t like nature are the ones that need it the most. It is our disconnection from nature that is a foundation for chronic disease we experience today. It is all the non-nature we experience every day that exacerbates the dysfunction we experience with our health. We are hard wired to be supported, be healed by nature … we are simply disconnected… let me explain….

Do you ever wonder why you feel so good when you put your bare feet in the grass or when you walk on the beach or even dive into cold water (if you’re brave enough ? It isn’t a coincidence. Within nature, exists what we call negative ions. Negative ions are oxygen atoms with negatively charged electrons. These negative ions have been showed to increase mood, increase feel good neurotransmitters, support energy levels, reduce stress levels and chronic inflammation which results in the good feelings you get when you are outside. On the other hand, we are constantly being exposed to positive ions in our man made environment. Positive ions are ions that have lost 1+ electrons which means they are searching for other ions to help “even” them out which can cause lead to interaction with human cells similarly to how free radicals cause inflammation. Positive ions are often omitted from things like bright fluorescent lights, electronics like phones and computers, wifi, bluetooth, air pollution and other environment toxins.

An easy rule of thumb is that usually negative ions are naturally occurring while positive ones seem to usually be man-made.

It is easy to get caught up in focusing only on diet, or only on diet and nutrition when in reality there are so many external factors that can greatly affect the results we are going to get. It is easy to explain the science but truly personal experience tells the true story. About 9 or 10 months ago, I listened to an episode of Huberman Lab where he discussed the benefits of getting morning sun. Now, I had learned this in school, I understood our circadian rhythm, this wasn’t new to me. At the time, I was just focusing on walking so I deciding to take my walk every morning with the sun rise. Cue, the literal best I have ever felt in my life…So by this point I am thinking hmmm there is something to this. I lost weight without working out very much at all, my digestion was the best it had been, and my energy throughout the day was great. This was simply from getting a bit of sunlight in the morning.

The next few months, I had a few camping trips and long hikes planned, then I started volunteering at a farm, then I started training for Mount Whitney which involved at least 12 uninterrupted hours in nature each weekend. I started noticing that even a day or two away made a huge difference in my mental health. The more time in nature and outside I spent, the better I felt and the more I craved being there again.

After spending the last 6 days completely disconnected, sleeping outside (even in the cold), waking up with the sun, barely looking at my phone, not even aware of the time of day, I am convinced that this is the missing piece. This is the missing piece and thank god its free. The biggest shift I notice is with my mental health. I could feel the way my brain was functioning completely shift and I don’t say this lightly.

Prior to this trip, I was in a vicious cycle of craving instagram, netflix and tik tok (which I just got) throughout the day. Why is this? Likely due to dopamine. See, dopamine is known as a pleasure neurotransmitter but what is often left out is that it is also responsible for motivation. In fact, much of the pleasure we get from dopamine comes from anticipation of a reward and then the fulfilling of that anticipation when we receive the reward. That is why dopamine is connected to both addiction as well as achievement. I like to think we can hack dopamine to work and support our long term reward system but this has its downfalls as well. As soon as we get the reward we are seeking and get that dopamine hit, we start with the next craving or motivation which is why this neurotransmitter can be so destructive and essentially take over our brain.

After 24 hours outside, it was gone. I didn’t want netflix or instagram or any of it. I was content sitting outside and doing nothing, I was content focusing on reading my book…not running over to look at my phone every two minutes. I wasn’t stressed about work, I didn’t have a to do list running through my head. I was me, again. It sounds bad but it also isn’t our fault, these systems hack our biology the same way that the bliss point does in processed food. The novelty of something like tik tok plays on our weakness and uses dopamine hits to cause addiction like behavior. My brain was suffering and as a result, my body and my decisions were suffering as well.

So how does this play into nature? How does this connect to people not liking the outdoors? Maybe, that pathway hasn’t been rewarded in their brain..maybe they haven’t been out and away for long enough to feel the true benefits. Maybe their brain is so inundated with instant gratification, whether that be social media, processed foods, substances, what have you, that they have never experience the true regulatory effects of what nature can provide. This is where the positive feedback loop comes in.

I look at nature immersion the same way as changing your diet. The great thing about dopamine is that, to an extent you can train it. It’s like Pavlov’s dogs, positive reinforcement. Sure, there is that instant gratification we get from social media or processed foods but once you experience the dichotomy of what life can feel like when your body is functioning as its supposed to from fueling it properly, it’s different. Once you understand and feel how your mind can work when it is surrounded by nature and your nervous system is calmed, you are able to see where the true reward lies. It isn’t alway easy.

I am back in it now…back in my room, working on my computer but now I have this comparison. I have this immediate craving, I have to get outside, I have to take my walk in the morning, I need to get my feet in the sand, I am already planning the next time I can be away for a while. My brain is craving this break. This comparison helps because I am able to see that the easy quick fix is fake, it isn’t really what I want or need.

While I don’t encourage a “quick fix” but maybe nature is the safest, quickest, most effective fix we have. I’m not that I’ll never have another day where I go down the instagram rabbit hole or spend more time than I would like watching TV but at least I have that comparison. I think this is where the disconnect lies for so many people. Truly, it is a feeling of relief, it is a feeling of calm, of actually being in the moment, of nervous system regulation without any self care ritual. Once you feel it, you crave it.