The Healing Power of Nature
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed.”
--John Burroughs
This is a popular quote around Parks & Trails New York these days. John Burroughs—who penned it—was a life-long Catskill resident, conservationist, and nature journaler. Quotes like these can be calming, can seem poetic, and at times maybe a bit flowery. But Burroughs’ quote hits the mark and shows that people have understood the healing benefits of nature for a long time.
For example, during the 19th century, New York State’s mental healthcare system was built around the concept that nature was cathartic and healing. Focusing on farming, outdoor recreation and healing landscapes—promoted by famous landscape architects Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux—access to nature was a primary source of treatment, especially in post-Civil War New York.
While it can seem like folk wisdom, part of a romantic’s sonnet, or some strange approach involving breakfast cereal à la John Harvey Kellogg, there is a lot of hard science behind the concept that time spent outdoors has healing benefits. The American Lung Association encourages outdoor exercise to boost respiratory health. A recent survey on Nature’s benefit to brain activity, the cardiovascular and endocrine systems, and immune function found positive impacts on all of them. The psychological benefits of access to nature are so pronounced that there is a bill sponsored by NYS Senator Brian A. Benjamin—Outdoor Rx—to increase veterans’ access to state parks and lands as therapy. We use nature to treat adolescent depression with programs like Outward Bound, which have a statistically significant impact on mental well-being and development in youth.
It seems like common-sense that access to nature and outdoor activity is good for us. After all, we are part of nature. Regardless of what you find to be most convincing—poetic quotes, personal experience, historic precedents, or recent scholarly studies—we at Parks & Trails New York encourage you to safely and responsibly access the healing properties of nature, especially during this crisis. If you’d like more specific information on how to be a responsible park and trail user nowadays, please check out our #ParksPledge here.