Get Outside: The Valuable Benefits of Nature for City Goers
The great outdoors holds the key to endless opportunity. No matter where you live, in the city or the country, you can still reap the countless benefits to your environment. Developing your hobbies, learning new skills, exercising, and improving your mental health can all be gained by just walking out your front door and exploring.
The hobbies that can be attained and developed from the outdoors truly are endless. Camping is a great way to experience life in nature. Building a fire, setting up a tent, and cooking are all great skills to learn while camping.
Hunting is also a hobby many partake in that can be very valuable. Hunting can teach you life lessons, put food on the table, teach you patience, and be very fun. When starting to hunt it is important to go with someone you trust and that is very experienced. This is a good way to learn the laws and how to respect nature. At the end of the day, you are taking a life and you need to understand the power you withhold and not take advantage.
Water is a large part of the outdoors. Oceans, lakes, rivers, and creeks, all are hidden gems with countless purposes. Kayaking, boating, water skiing, surfing, fishing, and much more.
Fishing is similar to hunting in the way it teaches you patience, respect for the environment, and many life lessons. Fishing can be a very frustrating hobby as well as many outdoor activities. The outdoors can be a very unforgiving place that can teach you self-control, patience, and emotional management.
You can develop these hobbies so well that you can turn them into a career, and just like that something you do for fun is putting food on the table. These hobbies are also a great way to bring people together and turn nature into a social experience.
Living in the city can make getting outside very difficult. The concrete jungle may be a magical place but the city can be very restricting. Here are a few places you can visit that aren't too far away from the northeast cities.
The Niagra Falls
Niagra falls State Park is a group of three waterfalls bordering Canada and New York that drains into Lake Ontario. The falls have the highest flow rate of any waterfall in all of North America. Being so close to highly populated cities it would be a great day trip to go out to experience nature.
The Great Lakes
The great lakes withhold 5 bodies of water including Lake Ontario, Michigan, Superior, Huron, and Erie. They are located in middle/northeast America and border the Canada border. Once again a great location for people in the northern cities to travel to not far from home. The lakes open up endless activities such as kayaking, fishing, boating, camping, and much more.
Acadia National Park
Located in Maine, Acadia is one of the most jaw-dropping national parks you can visit. From mountains, islands, and water, there are endless things to do. The biodiversity at this park is unmatched and filled with habitats of all kinds.
The Mental Benefits
Getting outside is great for your mental health in numerous ways. Sunlight keeps your serotonin levels up, in turn, raising your energy, and keeping you calm, positive, and focused.
Human contact is an important part of having strong mental health. Having a sense of community and people to rely on is key. Getting outside and spending time in nature with others is a great way to be social and build long-lasting bonds with others.
The outdoors helps improve your sleep cycle. The cells within your eyes absorb light which helps your body's internal clock work better. Sunlight in the morning can help improve sleep at night.
Doing light exercises even as little as walking near water or plant-filled areas will help improve your self-esteem making you feel better about yourself.
Nature has been proven to enhance your ability to focus. Not only sunlight but just being near green space. A study took two groups of kids with ADHD, one group walking through an urban area and the other in a green space. The research showed that the kids who walked through the green space were more able to focus afterward.
Plants and Sunlight have both been shown to improve your immune system. Sunlight enhances T cells in your immune system that better a person's ability to fight infection. Many plants also release organic compounds into the air which boosts immune function.
All in all, nature holds the key to innumerable benefits like mental health, social experiences, and building new skills. If you find yourself trapped inside an urban area, take a few days off and go visit a close by national park or even just go take a short walk through the closest woods. You might find yourself surprised by what you can gain from the great outdoors.
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