The Mental Health Benefits Of Hiking

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Hiking is one of those things that someone can easily fall in love with. There is no better feeling than strapping on a backpack, loading it full of the basics, and embarking on a journey out into nature. Whether you live in a city and love it, or live right on the edge of the great outdoors, you cannot deny that hiking brings out a newfound love for nature, health, and fitness.

Hiking isn’t always about getting out and getting active. Many people really focus on the active benefits of hiking, but what about the passive benefits that result from this activity? Did you know that hiking actually has mental health benefits as well?

The Reason I Started Hiking

I grew up in a really rural area, so being outdoors was perhaps 90% of my childhood experience. As I grew older I spent more time at school and working on projects or at some athletic event. While playing sports is great for you, it doesn’t quite give you the same sense of being outside and connecting with nature that activities like hiking can.

As I stayed indoors for a lot of my teenage life, I had an overwhelming urge to explore more of my surroundings. You could often find me jetting away to the beach with friends to go camping, or randomly heading up into the mountains to stay for a night or two.

The reason for these excursions was primarily to get out of my own head, connect with nature, and go on a couple good hikes. Some of you that may be reading are still in these teenage years, so I encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities while you still can because it only gets harder as you gain more responsibilities.

As we go through life and wade deeper into our careers, we start to get caught up in the office late hours, we sit inside and watch television on the weekends, and most of our exercise begins to come from gym based workouts which are also indoors. My solution to combatting the indoor hours has been to take up a more direct approach via hiking. If you are wondering why I mention the indoor hours, it’s because

staying indoors for too long can begin to take a toll on your mental health…

In addition to screwing up your body’s circadian clock, which can be detrimental for all sorts of health reasons and can directly contribute to diabetes and substance abuse, staying indoors all day with no exposure to nature has been proven to lead to depression and anxiety.

You may be arguing that you aren’t depressed or anxious, and that’s awesome, but if you are slightly moody after staying inside for long periods of time you may be feeling these effects and not knowing it. Also, getting outdoors can directly contribute to mental health through relaxing your mind and removing you from what you have subconsciously deemed a “thinking environment”. This brings me to the correlation between hiking and mental health.

Hiking and Mental Health: The Science

One important fact to understand is that there is legitimate science behind the effects of hiking. More specifically, the effects of nature against the urban environment. While urban environments are great for high stress people who enjoy the hustle and bustle, they too need to slow down and experience nature to allow their brain’s recovery.

A Stanford study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, found that “people who walked for 90 minutes in a natural area, as opposed to participants who walked in a high-traffic urban setting, showed decreased activity in a region of the brain associated with a key factor in depression.” (via news.stanford.edu)

With depression being such a common affliction these days, and having multiple friends that fight with extreme ups and downs regularly, it is important that we all make sure we are keeping our minds as fit as we can in order to avoid these bouts with negative thinking.

Multiple medical studies have linked Vitamin D and depression, showing that Vitamin D levels tend to be very low in a large majority of patients showing signs and symptoms of depression. Since a large percentage of the population, due to diet, is now naturally Vitamin D deficient we are seeing an ever increasing rate of those with symptoms of even minor depression or anxiety.

Hiking connects you with nature, and more often than not hiking is only appropriate on days when the sun is high in the sky and the surroundings are energetic with wildlife. Since the Sun’s direct contact with our skin allows our bodies to generate large quantities of Vitamin D in a short time period, even just a short hike on the weekends can contribute to a fantastic week. So scientifically speaking, go on a hike!

Hiking and Mental Health: The Spirituality

I personally have spiritual reasons for hiking as well. I keep having to throw out the disclaimer that I’m not a total hippie, but I’m starting to not believe myself either. I genuinely enjoy stomping through the trees, the smell of the woods, and listening to the birds chirp.

I enjoy seeing the colors of nature, and with the recent wildflower blooms there has never been a more perfect time to go exploring. All the vibrant greens, yellows, reds, and blues contribute to my happiness. I feel connected with nature on another level, and when it is just myself and nature I am able to think more clearly about my life and my goals. Taking a step away from all the concrete and black, white, and gray allows me to remember who I am as a person and how much I enjoy the sun and clear skies.

When I come back from a quiet hike, I am always able to refocus myself on my career goals, my goals to help people experience the thoughts and happiness that I experience every day, and my goals for being healthier and more caring towards the environment.

I guess not everyone is able to look within themselves just because of a quiet one on one connection with nature, and maybe some of you don’t believe in the things I do, and that’s totally fine. However, I still argue that the scientific effects alone are enough of a reason to get outdoors and connect with nature.

Many people that are reading this are probably city dwellers like myself. I understand it can be quite a daunting task to get outside and find a new and exciting place to explore. However, I have learned that a quick Google Search for the best hiking spots in {Your City Here} has turned out to provide many hidden gems that you would have never known were there if you weren’t actively seeking them out.

You can also integrate hiking into your travel. I have some ideas about doing this that I will most certainly share in another article.

So the moral of the story is, that everyone should be getting outdoors and going on a hike here and there to better their mental health. This includes you. When I first moved to the city I made quite a few excuses for not hiking. I quickly realized that a large majority of these excuses, other than terrible weather, were not valid reasons to stay indoors. The more I’ve been able to get outside and explore, the more I’ve been able to enjoy the weekdays and power through work.

If you have any tips for finding new places to hike, want to talk about places I hike, or just want to say hello feel free to leave comments below. I love chatting with those who are reading, so don’t be shy.

 

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