Mental Health Archives - Wandering Leaves Studio

Keeping a nature journal is a practice that can be as diverse as the journaler! If you do an internet search on nature journaling, you’re going to find, almost exclusively, articles and how-to’s devoted to homeschoolers using nature journals for science. While that is a very worthwhile endeavor, there is much more to keeping a nature journal than as a ‘science class’! And it’s certainly not just for the kids.

Nobody sees a flower, really — it is so small — we haven’t time, and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.
Gerogia O’Keeffe

Reasons To Keep A Nature Journal

Many of the reasons for keeping a journal of your nature adventures overlap with reasons to just be out in nature, such as:

Mental health
- According to recent studies, time in nature can decrease depression by up to 70%.
- Boosts serotonin and decreases cortisol levels
- Allows you to process thoughts
- Can be a form of meditation
Deeper connection to nature
- Forces you to focus on details
- Slows you down
- Teaches you to ‘see’ your surroundings
- Causes you to be in the here and now

In addition to the mental health benefits, keeping a nature journal can help deepen your connection to nature! Taking the time to sketch, photograph, or interact with nature (through things like leaf rubbings and collecting) forces your mind to focus on the here and now, and on the details that give you that deeper connection. You notice details that otherwise you might miss. Journaling gives you the opportunity to discover the ‘awe’ of natural things and phenomena. Personally, I’m always up for more awe and amazement in my life!

How to Keep A Nature Journal

Good news! There is no one right way to keep a nature journal. If you’re like most people, when we think of a journal, we picture beautiful, accurate drawings accompanied by scientific journaling. Those journals do exist, but the simple fact is most people don’t share their journals — they’re personal. They are filled with one person’s private thoughts and experiences. There is no need to worry about your drawing skills or writing expertise.

Here are just a few ideas for you to use in your own journal:

Pencil sketches
Watercolor drawings
Words only — maybe you just want to capture with words what you are feeling as you observe a bird, sit by a babbling brook, or wonder why that cloud formation looks like an ice cream cone (For writing inspiration, find a list of nature writers in this article from the Sierra Club on nature journaling.)
Objects
- Rubbings of leaves or bark
- Taping flat items to pages
- Pocket pages to hold not so flat items
Photos — If photography is more your style, your journal can certainly be more like a scrapbook.

Tools & Supplies

The last thing you want when you’re out on a hike enjoying the nature around you, is a huge heavy backpack full of art supplies! Luckily, that’s not necessary. All you really need are a few basic supplies. I tend to carry just a smallish notebook and a mechanical pencil. Always having my phone handy for a quick snapshot so that I can remember colors for later is a big help.

Here are a few simple supplies you may want depending upon how you keep your nature journal:

Notebook of some type — for me — smallish and easy to transport
Sketching tools
- Pencil (mechanical — no need for sharpener)
- Watercolors – a very small, dry set
- Waterbrush – no need to carry water — this is a brush with a hollow handle filled with water — you can refill from a stream or your water bottle if you need to
- Graphite stick or charcoal for rubbings
Baggies for collecting items — flat(ish) things like leaves can be taped right into your journal. A flower can be pressed and added in. You may want to include small pockets in your journal for collecting these items.
Camera (phone camera)

Skills

More great news! You do not need any specific skills to get started.

To begin, you need only to develop your skills of observation!
Add in over time:
- Ability to sit quietly so you may observe/sketch skittish wildlife you may encounter
- A few basic drawing or photography skills are nice to have
- Walking with ‘soft eyes’ vs. ‘hard eyes’. Soft eyes means that you are just walking without any particular purpose or intent in mind. If you are focused and actively hunting for something, you will miss other subtle things along the way. In other words, soft eyes is relaxing and you’ll often stumble upon something amazing and awe-inspiring for your nature journal!

There really are as many ways to keep a nature journal as there are people who keep them. What’s your journaling style? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Can taking a nature hike improve mental health? According to several current scientific studies, it can! Deadlines. Schedules. Concrete. Traffic. Cell Phones. Email. Cubicles. Windowless offices. Stress. Just writing the words has me feeling tight, pinched, and stressed! Even when we love our jobs and our lives, we need to make time for rest and renewal.

More and more studies are proving that time in a natural setting on a regular basis is the best way to reboot. Here are 10 ways that a hike in the woods can improve your mental health.

1. Hiking Boosts Endorphins

Endorphins are a feel-good hormone. They are released by the body as a natural pain killer — ie: when you’re walking uphill on the trail. Studies show that as little as 20 minutes of exercise is all it takes to get a boost of endorphin.

2. Hiking Boosts Serotonin

Serotonin has many roles and purposes in our bodies, but for this discussion we’re looking at its role as a mood regulator. Serotonin is a chemical produced in the body, mostly in the gut. Its production and release requires exposure to sunlight.

Besides sunlight your body also requires tryptophan to produce serotonin. How do you get tryptophan? It’s in the trail mix of nuts, seeds, and dark chocolate that makes a perfect hiking snack! So make sure to pack some along on your hike along with a banana. Take a break, have a snack, absorb some sun on your skin and get your serotonin levels humming!

3. A Nature Hike Reduces Cortisol Levels

Cortisol is a regulator. It helps us keep a rhythm of day and night. Our constant exposure to the blue light used in technology; computers, cell phones, TVs, etc., tricks our body into thinking it is perpetually morning.

There is a difference in the light of morning and the light of evening. Morning light is blue and causes a rush of cortisol to wake us up and get our day going. At night the light is a soft orange, signaling the reduction in cortisol so that we can wind down and go to sleep.

Spending time in nature, no matter what time of day, can help our bodies reset the cortisol cycle.

4. Time in Nature Increases Our Level of Negative Ions

Ions surround us. There are both positive and negative ions found naturally in our living world. In a perfect environment, they are balanced. However, in our current world we are constantly bombarded by excess positive ions emitted by all of our electronic gadgets and gizmos. We are out of balance.

Time in nature can even out that balance. Forests, waterfalls, and the ocean all create an abundance of negative ions!

5. A Nature Hike Boosts Our Oxygen Levels

We all learned this is school, but how often do we think about it as adults? Trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen! Yep, get out in an area with plenty of trees and you get an oxygen boost. A bit of exercise, deeper breaths, and increased oxygen levels can amount to boosting brain power and creativity.

Science has also shown us that there are essential oils called phytoncides released into the air from trees and plants. Breathing in these naturally occurring phytoncides helps not only to boost your immune system, but also to assist in stress reduction.

6. Walking Meditation is Easier in Nature

Meditating while walking in nature can have tremendous benefits. It’s much easier to focus on being mindful and present when your body is engaged in physical activity. Many people who struggle with seated meditation have no problem with walking meditation. There’s something about the forward motion of your body that causes your mind to move forward as well.

7. A Nature Hike Allows A Closer Connection to Nature

Spending time in nature, taking your time, and noticing all of the awe-inspiring wonder around you can help you feel connected. We forget because we are so isolated from nature most of the time, but we are nature. Loneliness abounds in our society. We can feel most alone in a crowd of people. That kind of loneliness comes from disconnection. While we absolutely still need close relationships with people in our lives, there is a vital connection to be had in nature as well.

We can find a sense of our belonging to nature. The exciting part? It takes time. Developing a connection to nature doesn’t happen overnight–it takes time and commitment, just like any long-term relationship. The more time you spend in that connection, the more in love with nature you become and, . . . the bigger that sense of belonging becomes.

8. Creative Thinking Gets a Boost From A Nature Hike

There are multiple studies that show spending time in nature and away from technology can boost your ability to solve problems in a more creative way by up to 50%. Taking away the noise of the city and your office allows you time to think, increasing both your memory and your ability to use creative problem-solving skills.

9. Nature’s Antidepressant Bacteria

Soil can make you happy and smarter! Scientists have discovered a bacteria called Mycobacterium vaccae. This beneficial bacteria resides in the soil and works like an antidepressant in our system. It works on many chemical levels that are still being studied, but we now know that it affects serotonin in a positive way, giving our brains a boost as well as our mood.

How do we access this miracle microbe? Hiking along a dirt path through the forest causes the bacteria to be released from the soil as we walk. We breathe it in. Playing with our hands in the dirt both releases it to our lungs as we breathe, and also through our skin through direct contact. Give yourself permission to get dirty and enjoy those antidepressant effects!

10. Forests Buffer Noise

Sounds — man-made sounds, . . . we are inundated by the sounds of traffic, sirens, construction equipment, lawn mowers, as well as the constant hum of computers, video games, and TV. This constant noise takes a toll on our physical bodies as well as our minds.

Step out into the forest where the trees and underbrush filter out much of that man-made noise. Listen to the sounds of wind through the trees, singing birds, and hear the crunch of leaves under your feet. Giving your ears a break from the noise of the city is yet another way to boost brain power and increase your access to your own creativity.

Interested in the scientific studies? PubMed has over 100 studies on the health impacts of forest bathing (spending time in nature).

Now that you have 10 more reasons to get out in the woods and take a hike, what are you waiting for?!