Interactions with Nature|Nature|Wildlife

Outdoor Professsor's Tips

Hello, I'm the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/

Here's your outdoor tip on increasing your interactions with nature.

Outdoor tips are being presented to make your interactions with nature positive and supportive to your health and well-being. They are intended to provide ideas to support your outdoor adventures and interactions with nature.

My premise is a simple one: you need to interact with our natural world to improve your happiness and health. I maintain that time spent in the outdoors has the power to improve the lives of people of all ages—children, adults, and in particular, older citizens. The purpose of outdoor tips is to improve your experience with the wonders of nature, whatever the shape or form. I feel nature provides a natural, free, and accessible remedy that can improve the well-being of our entire population.

Tom Jacobs (2009) in his article in Turning Research into Solutions goes so far as to say “Nature makes us nicer” (p., 1). Jacobs says that maintaining a connection to nature has been shown to decrease stress levels and stimulate healing. Jacobs cites a series of studies that say nature brings individuals closer to others, whereas human-made environments move us toward more selfish ends.

The flip side of this discussion considers the damage that disconnection to nature does to our bodies and minds. Some compare life in the 21^st Century to a wild animal living unnaturally caged in a zoo. This may seem an extreme view, but consider the lives many people live. The cubical of the office worker is a graphic depiction of the empty cage in the zoo. As you will find artificial rocks and plants in the modern zoo, you will find family pictures, favorite outdoor scenes, and other trophies and mock representations of the outside world in a worker’s cubical. Urban technologies are moving humans from a natural environment to the confines of the city, many with barren offices and cubicles far removed from nature. Television, computers and other electronic media are dominating the lives of people.

We must work to overcome the draw of the virtual media world of nature and escape our daily urban lives to the “real natural” world. These practical outdoor tips and information should empower you to maintain and expand your interactions with nature. It will support the increase of what I call the “Nature Quotient”—humanity’s link to nature. It is important that you spend consistent time in the outdoors and encourage the members of your family to do the same.

The importance of my interaction with nature is something that has been expanding at some level of consciousness or unconsciousness my entire life. I have spent much of my life in the outdoors swimming in natural lakes, fishing, hunting, hiking, paddling a kayak, bird watching--taking part in just about any activity that gave me an excuse to be outdoors. I used to take the outdoors for granted thinking it was just some fun activities that drew me to the outdoors. Now, I realize that it’s something much greater than that. I am beginning to understand why I have always been drawn to so many outdoor activities. Helping others experience nature and our great outdoors makes me recognize that there is more to the enjoyment than just the activity itself. It’s the connection with nature that brings us a sense of serenity—an escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life. The lure of the outdoors is not just a sporting activity--it’s the communication with nature that brings people back to the outdoors. I now additionally enjoy helping others to get pleasure from the outdoors and nature improving their physical and mental health. Much of my spare time is spent taking people on a trek in the woods or guiding them paddling down a remote bayou. My goal is that tips will help you share these outdoor experiences with others.

I was very concerned to see a recent article in the USA Section of the Indianapolis Star (July 13, 2014, p.8B). The theme of the article was that we are becoming a nation increasingly afraid of the “park”—or more specifically, the creatures that live there. The US Fish and Wildlife Service reported that many visitors to national wildlife refuges fear not only snakes, bats, alligators and wolves, but also even ducks and turtles. More and more reports were coming from refuge guides suggesting visitors find many of the creatures “creepy.”

Guides are saying that children are more comfortable at home looking at monitors of a swamp than exploring the actual swamp in the outdoors. They say it’s the fear of the unknown. They’ve seen on television a poisonous spider in Venezuela and think it might be in a park in the United States. Environmental educators say it begins with the teachers. They act like many outdoor creatures are disgusting and it rubs off on the children. Even fear of “bugs” is a common feeling of people with limited experience in the outdoors.

Part of the solution to this problem is to follow the tips I present to be aware of hazards in the outdoors. There is no reason for fear, but a healthy respect for outdoor creatures and plants should be maintained. A breakout of poison ivy should be the worst case scenario for someone exploring nature. Nature provides a natural, free, and accessible therapy that can benefit our entire population. There is a critical connection between nature and people. The two are inseparable. Your Nature Quotient can be increased with activities as simple as a walk in the park, gardening or owning a pet. It emphasizes that nature is not a destination. It can be found right outside your front door. You can establish an effective relationship with nature with your own initiatives.

Unfortunately, we are moving further from nature as a society and are losing its benefits. Keeps my outdoor tips in mind to help you overcome challenges you may face in future explorations of the outdoors.

This is the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/

References—Additional Reading

Bothel, R.T. (2013) Nature Quotient. Available via Kindle, Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc. ASIN: B00B6Y0ID8.

Jacobs, T. (2009, August 19). Immersion in nature makes us nicer. Miller-McCune Turning Research into Solutions. Retrieved January 15, 2010, from http://miller-mccune.com/news/immersion-in-nature-makes-us-nicer-1430

Afraid of the Park. Indianapolis Star. (July 13, 2014, p.8B).USA Section. Gannett publications.