Boundless Science Season 2: Outdoor Rx: How Nature Nurtures Mental Well-Being

Taking a deep breath and immersing ourselves in nature holds profound significance for our well-being, especially for children, adolescents, and young adults. Cesar sits down with PhD. student Stephanie Stoutamire to discuss the science of connection to nature, where we explore the intricate links between spending time outdoors and mental health. Our conversation ranged from how nature create better leaders, to how sunlight is needed for proper retina development. Tune in to unveil the transformative power of nature and champion its pivotal role in supporting our well-being.

Stepanie Stoutamire is a PhD. Student at the University of Florida, department of Agricultural Education and Communication. She studies ways to develop connection to nature, and how this connection promotes pro-environmental behaviors. #boundlessscience #season2 #BoundlessScienceseason2

Transcript

Cesar: Well, thank you, Stephanie, for being here with me, for sitting down with me and talking about your research, which I think it's very, very interesting for people with kids or they're thinking about having kids or,  young adults, particularly, or, or all as well, they, They're going to have a good hopefully a good outcome with the topic that we're talking about.

And that's connection to nature and the benefits that the real physical benefits that being in nature gives us as humans. And with that, I, I actually wanted to tell you that I went for a run this morning in, in one of the state forests to, to get into the mindset of the podcast. Yeah, we're talking about nature and spending more time there.

I should do that myself, especially if we're going to talk about it. And I consider myself to be kind of an outdoorsy person.  And I'm very thankful for that. And I'm very thankful that I found a way into nature. But I know that this generation, mine, I'm a, I'm, I might be a little older, but especially younger generation.

I know the literature calls them indoor generations.  And I wanted to start talking about that. What does that mean and how does that look?  

Steph: Being called the indoor generation is referring to the fact that our youth these days are spending far more time indoors than outdoors. And typically, and over, throughout history, humans have spent way more time actually in nature than they have indoors.

But just the history of our development and progress and people moving into cities way back in, over a hundred years ago when that first occurred in America. And ever since then, we've just increasingly made it more difficult for humans. youth, especially in the city areas to connect with nature.

Other things that are happening are the progress and development of technology. And quite frankly, kids today, it's way more fun to play a video game or something like that and or Peru's social media. They're not as drawn to playing outside as they used to be because they're not as bored. And in addition to that, there's also a lot more time constraints on youth today.

We're very focused on standardized testing in our education system, and so a lot of youth are spending their time studying or, or being able to make good grades on tests. Or especially when we get into our high school kids when they're working on really beefing up their resume to get into college and things like that spending time in nature just sort of gets pushed aside.

It's not really viewed as a priority to a lot of families today. And that's because we just have so many other competing priorities that are taking our time. Another thing that I've noticed is  reflecting on how people form connections with nature. A lot of people who are in these older generations, so like mine, I'm a millennial, I'm 36, and I, nice,  so I, and so people in our age and people that are older than us, they really got a lot of their exposure to nature either from their parents just sending them outside because, we don't want you inside.

Get outside and go play. And they also got a lot of exposure to nature through their parents taking them outside. You know fishing or camping or hunting or different things like that and a couple of things today are changing that For one safety is a really big concern for not just parents, but children We have safety concerns of letting our kids just go explore neighborhoods and beyond And those are not just safety with you know, You human predators or people out there who could, you know, potentially like kidnap your child or something.

There's also safety issues with traffic cars. We've got in urban areas and cities in general you might have a homeless population or other populations that are utilizing outdoor spaces that should be geared towards children. And so then children don't feel safe.  Welcome in those environments.

Cesar: Yeah. And I was going to say also, I feel like a lot of the issues right now, or some of the issues right now are logistics as well. You know, time constrained yes, but also, making time and having to pack stuff up and going out to a big place, a national park or something like that. Sounds daunting for a lot of people.

And it's understandable. And that's one of the challenges that we'll talk about it later. But there's also ways around it, which I'm very convinced that would be part of the solution to this. I feel like for what I've understood. But yeah you, you mentioned really important points about, connectivity to nature.

And I know you, part of your research is focused on connection to nature, particularly. Can you talk a little bit about  Excuse me. Can you talk a little bit about what?  Connection to nature means and, and what are the benefits to being in nature? 

Steph: Connection to nature and connectedness to nature is another way you hear it referred to and it means a few different things, but overall it's the way that we relate to nature and it's a feeling that we are a part of nature, that we have a relationship to it.

There's an element of a emotional connection to nature and this really kind of stems from or goes along really nicely with the biophilia hypothesis proposed by an E. O. Wilson and that states that we have a  innate emotional connection to the natural world and we're kind of programmed to respond to it in an emotional way.

It's a bio meaning.  Natural or, biological and feel a affinity to it or likeness to it. 

Cesar: Okay. What are some of the initial challenges of someone for someone to be connected to nature? Like I, what I mean is can I go to a soccer field and field that connection to nature? Can I do it in a city park, or do I have to be more, you know, gnarly and go into Yosemite National Park to feel that connectivity?  

Steph: From what I've read so far Connection to nature can be formed in many, many different ways. And, and that can be, you know, yes, relating to your family pet and seeing that this being that is not human is something that you respond to and responds to you and that you guys are actually in a interactive type relationship is sort of one part of that nature connection feeling.

Cause you're recognizing that there's other parts of this world that you can be connected to and that you are most likely connected to in some way. Now as far as like comparing, you know, is a sport like a team sport going to give you the same connection to nature feeling or something as  maybe a hike. 

So for, for one, I don't think we understand connection and to nature enough to know like these types of activities  result in this versus this type of activity results in that. I think it's a very cumulative feeling and, and something that occurs within us over time and with a lot of different experiences.

Building up to that. But, in general what I have found is that in the literature contemplating nature and actually sort of where nature is more the focus of your activity would lend to more nature connection feelings than playing like a team sport or something like that. However, I really believe that those a lot of our like life lessons are, can be learned in that team sport environment in a way, for example, fairness or something. So sometimes your soccer game's gonna get rained out and you're not gonna play as well 'cause there's puddles. And then the next weekend it might be a beautiful day and you just kill it on the soccer field.

And so you can, nature's always teaching us lessons in my. My view, I think that any time outside is going to…

Cesar: Might teach you it might make you be more resilient to into life challenges or Life's ways because you know you there's very little you can control outside even in very controlled environments And I also feel like there's something there because I've I've seen it myself and I felt it myself and I've seen others Have this kind of realization where you see spend a good time seeing the sunrise just, just by waking up very early and seeing the sunrise almost every day or the sunset or, you know, like understanding two different or two new plans that you didn't know and now you see them everywhere  or butterflies, whatever it is.

It gives you a new aspect or a new perspective on life that, it kind of broadens your word world and it sort of makes it feel more exciting, cause he, any, anywhere that you can go to now, there's all this new possibilities and you like possibilities as in things I can find or things I can see or.

Or anything like that. So I do think empirically, I guess how I felt that connection to nature and how that could benefit me or could benefit people. But is there anything in the literature that talks about, what are the physical or the behavioral real benefits to connection to nature? I, is there anything that, the research can tell us that, this is most definitely happen.

Cause I would, that would be very nice to know if all our time in nature is actually good in like immeasurable ways. 

Steph: So as far as if anything has been, you know, 100 percent definitively proven I think no, because I think it's very difficult to 100 percent definitively prove anything and when you're dealing with humans and The world in general and in science in general.

Cesar: I feel like a hundred percent. It's something that humans are not capable of 

Steph: Exactly But there is an overwhelming Amount of information that is supporting that nature benefits us in many different ways You know just right off hand mental health professionals and Regular doctors have started prescribing nature time actually as their best practice  in place of a medication.

And that's because many, many studies have demonstrated that nature results and lots of mental health benefits. So decreases feelings of stress, depression, anxiety, increases feelings of connection, which is a really big thing. I think mentally for humans is that we need to not feel alone and we need to feel that we're part of something.

Bigger than we are and also as far as personal development type stuff, there's been studies to show that nature does increase our resilience and our power to persevere. And I think that is a lot to do with what we talked about earlier with Sports activities and just hiking and stuff and just so many things outside require you to really look within and pull from within to accomplish what you want and that feeling of accomplishment and knowing that you got there by your own volition and your own power.

It's just something that we need to feel to be reminded of that we are capable beings. And nature really just. Has so many ways that you can do that. I just don't I'm not I've never been a gamer so I don't know if people who are really into like video games get that feeling when they've Reached a new level the same feeling that I might get when I've reached, you know 6, 000 feet coming from 2, 000 feet or something I just don't know if that's even comparable and I think that's part of what I'm worried about with Today's youth and even people that are Our age and stuff, and even older people, we, we so often don't get to experience these feelings that that are open to us, you know, the world provides them, and I think this is a wonderful part of being human is, is getting to experience these feelings of excitement and, and wonder and awe and, and just, yeah, the, the feeling of being amazed I think is a really big part of what nature does for me, and they've also, there's lots of studies is.

And if you want to think back about all the different programs we've heard about over the years of, of nature therapy for youth who maybe aren't doing as well in traditional school or who have lost their way. It's just amazing how much these kids turn around after just getting some time spent in nature and actually getting some time to see what their bodies can do, to see what their minds can do. It's just very, very empowering.

Cesar: I was a park ranger once and I see, I saw people who never had an experience with anything wildly, how much their views to it changed. And we'll talk a little bit about that later, but so the physical, the physical feelings that you get or the physical characteristics or whatever you want to call it of connections to know, or being in nature, can you talk a little bit more about that? 

Steph: So there was a really interesting, um, study I found a few weeks ago from ophthalmologists and they have seen a huge increase in nearsightedness.  And what they've found, I guess, is that, um, exposure  to sunlight and vitamin D during puberty is really important for our retina development. And that, um,  at the same time,  looking at screens and our phones and video games, it Also is really bad for our eyes and so we have sort of two factors happening at the same time where kids aren't necessarily spending enough hours outside getting that vitamin D.

while they're using social media or their devices a lot. And together, those, um, these, this team of ophthalmologists believes is increasing our rates of nearsightedness, which then increase your chances for all sorts of eye diseases, like, um, including blindness. So, I think that's something, um, that just sort of goes to show that, um, We have,  I don't know what part of our life is not affected by spending time with nature.

I'm sure it's out there somewhere, but I feel that, um, the research is really just pointing to  there's just no other conclusion in my opinion to be drawn other than that we need to physically have people spending more time outside.  Um,  something else I guess about  play versus  technology play, and that kind of play is that  technology, in my view, is very black and white, and if you just check all the boxes and do everything right, it works.

And it's going to.  You know, your avatar is going to do what you say it's going to do. And I think  in real life, things are not so black and white, and I think that you can do all the things right and check all the boxes, but then it still is not going to work out. And I think that these are, like, really fundamental, important lessons for humans to experience and not just be told, you know, that life's not fair.

I think we need to Really experience that and then in my opinion, I think that some of our societal and cultural issues are stemming from youth and people who have not spent enough time in the real world and are trying to see things in a very black and white way 

Cesar: Nature is gonna give you all of this Lessons that are going to be very useful for when you become a leader, hopefully a follower. Cause you know,  you you're a leader and also a follower in anything that you do.

Cause you're not on top of the world on anything. Even the president's going to have to respond to people. So there are followers as well. So. I don't want anybody to take my talking of followers the wrong way. But you know, it, it, it seems like it helps on, on it in every, every which way and,  and in that, and we talked a little bit about being in nature, how it changes your perception to nature.

And it makes you feel connected. You were talking about that. Is there, can we see a correlation between people who want to do well to the environment, protect the environment, or, you know, do all this conservation stuff with connection to nature early in life or whenever in life? 

Steph: Definitely. So that's probably one of the main areas like people in our department would be looking at.

is that connection to nature increases our pro environmental behaviors. And and that's simply because what we know and what we love and care about, we are willing to make some sacrifices for, to take care of. And we are able to do these, We make these sacrifices intrinsically, like because we want to do them, and that intrinsic motivation is much more effective than any type of external motivation.

External motivation to participate in pro environmental behaviors are things like fines, new laws, regulations other, like tax incentives and things like that. And what we see, with human behavior is that this type of motivation is just not as it's not as long lasting and it's not as powerful because people are only doing things because they're being made to do them.

And additionally, I think that when we consider the polarization of our environmental issues, I think it stems from, somewhat stems from the use of these external motivators. So a conservative population, for instance, is very or they're more likely to be concerned about their free will their independence and, and leading their own lives.

And so I think it just sort of starts things off on a negative space. When you say you can't do this because It's bad for such and such. So , I think really we should be striving to get that internal motivation to connect or to participate in pro environmental behaviors so that it's a, it's a part of your lifestyle.

You are going to be conscientious of how much waste you produce. When you might use fertilizers or pesticides you might be more conscientious about buying like clothing or materials that are more expensive, but are durable and going to last longer. And so there's a lot of ways that we can all participate in pro environmental behaviors that come out of just like our own love for nature versus being told in what ways we, we should be doing something.

Cesar: I think it's readily understood that. When you make someone do something, yeah, like you said, it's not gonna last a very long time, and is, I think of it in,  like, if you care about your neighbor, if you think they're a good person, you're not gonna step on their grass, or you're not gonna do something that you may not think about it if you don't know your neighbor or something.

So whenever you feel a connection To anything, you're going to be a little more conscious about it. And like you said, it's going to be on your lifestyle, which is, which is very nice and sustainable and long lasting. 

Steph: It is more sustainable In my opinion, knowing what we know about nature and its benefits to humans, physically, mentally, developmentally, and then also it's a benefit to the actual environment.

In my opinion, I think a lot more resources should be geared towards Bridging the nature connection gap that's happening. And this is not just happening in cities. It is definitely happening in rural spaces too. People in rural spaces may have easier access to get to a wild area to explore, but parents are still having safety concerns.

The world doesn't feel as safe as it used to be, I think, for people to just to let kids go out and explore and I think  there's still the regular concerns of injuries and encountering wildlife and bug bites and weather events and things like that that are keeping people from outside, but I think that I'm amazed that more resources is.

aren't being directed towards making sure that youth have quality access to outdoor spaces. They spend, I don't know, 8 or 9 hours a day in school and then they're, in after school programs or in sports and they've got homework and yeah, so I just, I lost my train of thought there. 

Cesar: No, it's great because I wanted to talk about of the challenges. So what are other challenges  that we have seen with, in respect of have, like willingness to be in nature or just access to nature? 

Steph: So there are a lot of challenges to getting into nature these days. For one, we can think about having parents who are, so they're the gatekeepers as nature especially, or the gatekeepers of nature, especially to younger children.

And so if they aren't adventuring outside, then their kids aren't learning that way to, to play and experience the world. We also have accessibility issues as far as, I think I talked about it a little bit earlier with park access being a little more restricted sometimes due to safety concerns or due to other adults that are hanging out at parks.

We also have just sort of the general lack of knowledge, perhaps a lack of interest due to Just not knowing how to, how to play outside. I did a little study for a class here, Dr. Loizzo’s class. And it's not like, it's just a school project kind of thing. It won't be getting like written up and published.

But I asked kids about playing outside. And I had over a hundred responses of kids from middle school in Jacksonville and The number one things that they wrote as to why they didn't want to play outside were bugs and the heat Which I thought was kind of cute because that's also what us adults really don't like about being outside And as far as I asked them what would make them play outside more and their response was actually friends So that was Interesting and not what I expected, but it makes me wonder.

If that is adding to this, you know, when I reflect on my time outside when I was, you know, elementary school, middle school, I was not alone exploring. I was with friends. I had a whole group of neighborhood friends. There was probably 10 of us who regularly hung out and met up throughout the neighborhood.

And so, I, I think that that, I don't know, it, it causes me a lot of interest because I wonder if that's a big part of it. Some studies have suggested that nature is very social for a lot of people. So, um. 

Cesar: Yeah, that's a great find and makes me think about my time and I think I also was blessed to finding groups that wanted to go out and I, I was willing to say yes and change my perspective on, on just nature, wildlife, conservation, and life in general.

What are other ways that we can improve this situation where, people don't want to be outside or parents don't want to take their kids outside?

Steph: I've given a fair amount of thought to this and now these are ideas that I don't know the feasibility of them. I could imagine perhaps a community system where we could get nature families connected to those families who aren't as into nature.

For example, let's say a dad is taking his 10 year old fishing. Maybe he can pick up another couple of kids. Who are associated with this group and take them out fishing. So I, the other kind of thing I was thinking of is more community based and maybe more policy based. And that is really.

Working towards making nature safe for children making it safe for them to go to their parks. Can they go to City parks and have that sort of sense of nature because I feel like those are would be the ones we can make safe Because it'll be harder to make I don't know how it looks and making That million acre park safe, you know, yeah, so I guess when I say Safe in this sense, there's been multiple small studies that have pointed to the fact that parks are becoming occupied by Other adults who are not there with their kids to play.

And so I think city parks need to do better of making sure that place is safe. And it's not just about when adults are actually there. It's about what they may leave behind in the park. So we have parents who might not want their kids to go to the park because they know that drug users were there the night before every evening and they don't want their kids to find.

Or there's trash or broken glass and things like that to where I was reading a a report where they interviewed children in Houston, Texas and a little girl said that she no longer liked to play outside because one time she was climbing a tree and when she fell, she landed on glass and she got a really bad cut on her leg and now she just wants to stay inside.

And so these are things that we as adults and community people and leaders need to do better on. I think overall I feel like kids are getting a little bit forgotten in our world today with all the big things we have going on  environmentally and globally and culturally here. I think we're kind of like missing sight on what's important, which is Making sure that our kids  have a better life than we had.

And I think overall The childhood experience of a youth today is really sad compared to the youth that I was able to have. I think we're not giving our kids everything that they need. Another thing  that parents could do is, really focus on getting your child in an outdoor club.

Or something that is more nature based. Even learning about nature or doing art that's nature inspired can increase those feelings of connection to the natural world. Other things would be summer camps where they really get that. A big immersion, so they maybe aren't exposed to nature on a daily basis, but two weeks or one week out of the year, they get a lot of good nature exposure and they can learn a lot of things in that time.

And then of course, with all of this is financial and,  just finding a way that we can make sure that. All of our population here has an opportunity to experience nature. And so I think it's going to be coming up with a lot of different creative solutions that are going to be applied differently in different areas to try to help people get financial support, to enroll their kids in some of these programs or summer camps and general education about, I think, education and showing people how they can safely experience nature. 

So one of the ways I think about it is nature is treated like a luxury or like an extracurricular versus a priority. And I guess that would be my final, my final word about it is nature should be a priority and not a luxury. 

Cesar: Yeah. And I, I feel like there's nothing else we can say beyond that. So thank you, Stephanie, for sitting down with me and, and talking about this very important subject.

Steph: Thank you, Cesar. I appreciate you having me here. This was really fun. 

Cesar: All right. Bye y'all