Mother Nature...A True Healer

For most of us, the feeling of a bit of sunshine on our skin, a gentle breeze across the face or the smell of the ocean is enough to drop our heart rates an automatic 10 beats per minute. Nature has a way of calming our nervous systems and bringing us to a place of hopefullness when the odds seemed to be stacked against us. For those of us who have felt this healing, we don't need an explanation as to why this is so. But the reality is, there are several obvious reasons for the benefits that can be bestowed on anyone who takes some time to let mother nature do her work.

One of the most profound impacts of the outdoors on human health is the relationship of the sun to vitamin D synthesis. Vitamin D, which is synthesized in the skin when it is exposed to the UVB rays, is a critically important hormone precursor which has been shown to be an anti-carcinogenic agent. Scientific evidence has shown that high blood levels of hydroxyvitamin-D (form of D in the blood) are associated with decreased risk of colorectal, ovarian and breast cancer. In addition, that indescribable joy that most of us feel when we enjoy a day in nature may the effect of the sun on our neurotransmitters. A study conducted in 2002 showed that the brain produces more of the mood-lifting chemical serotonin on sunny days than on darker days. When we spend copious amounts of our time indoors, we miss this opportunity for our brain to produce these positive mood chemicals. In addition to altering your mood, low seratonin levels have been linked to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and heart disease. The benefits of nature have yet another role by profoundly impacting our parasympathetic nervous system. This branch of the nervous system is opposite of the fight or flight (sympathetic) reaction of the body. This means that the system goes into a more relaxed state and the internal organs receive more nourishment from the blood as it is not being diverted to the periphery for the fight and flight mode. The heart rate is not in an emotionally stressed state and blood pressure is reduced. The more time we spend in an unnecessarily heighted state of stress, the more wear and tear we sustain.

So clearly, the more time we are able to spend in connection with our natural world, the more we stand to gain from it. And our mode of action in the outdoors tends to be one that moves us so we are gaining the addtional benefit from exercising. If you are new to the world of outdoor activity, we invite you to find organizations in your area that safely guide beginning adventurers. Live by Living is one such organization in the Boulder area and they specifically cater to the needs of cancer survivors and their caregivers. This provides a remarkable opportunity not only to heal in nature, but to find camaraderie with those who are sharing the cancer experience. To learn more about what they have to offer, please visit their website at ... http://www.livebyliving.org/.