Outdoor therapy refers to therapeutic sessions spent outside. Studies have indicated that time spent outdoors improved symptoms of physical issues like high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Outdoor therapy:
- Improves sleep
- Boosts mood
- Reduces oxidative stress
- Regulates emotional stress
- Builds resilience
- Promotes exercise
- Gives a sense of purpose in life
- Encourages social contact
Striped patterns typical of hard concrete buildings and city landscapes can cause things like migraines, headaches, and epilepsy because the gray matter in your brain is designed to process complex organic scenes made of overlapping striping patterns found in nature.
The linear borders and contrast found in urban settings requires more oxygen for your brain to process and that can lead to things like headaches. Spending time in nature can alleviate these issues by giving your brain a break from the over processing that comes from city landscapes and helping you to feel mentally recharged.
Outdoor Therapy for Addiction
There are several types of programs which offer outdoor therapy often in the form of a group activity that takes you on things like hikes so that you have an opportunity to be outdoors every week or two.
Mindfulness and Focus on the Present
Being outdoors can give a chance to spend meditative time with nature where you absorb your surroundings with all of your senses. This is a highly mindful practice, one that forces you to be present and focused on what’s happening in front of you instead of worrying about the future or contemplating the past. This is essential for people in recovery who are looking for ways to build their resilience and emotional control, avoid unnecessary stress, and learn to prioritize things that matter in recovery.
Exercise
Another benefit to outdoor therapy for addiction is the fact that it promotes exercise. Most Americans spend 90% or more of their time indoors, and of that, the majority of it is spent sitting and looking at screens.
Even in recovery you are more likely to spend the majority of your time indoors, sitting in therapy or reflecting, but otherwise indoors.
You are also likely to encounter excess stress from the recovery process. Too much stress for lengthy time frames can lead to physical symptoms like body aches or headaches, depression, and increased anxiety. Exercising, or just simply spending time in nature can:
- Offer a low impact form of exercise
- Reduce cortisol levels
- Put you in a calm state
- Increase your well-being
Being able to regularly exercise is not only good for preventative health but an essential component in substance abuse treatment when damage may have been done through drug and alcohol abuse and now you need to build a routine, improve your mood and your sleep through endorphins, and strengthen your body.
Note: The idea of forest bathing or spending time outdoors, can be as simple as spending 10 minutes per day in a local park, or a small area of town that has pockets of nature mixed into the landscape. After your outdoor therapy you can continue this practice and reap the health benefits.
Socialization
When you participate in outdoor therapy for addiction treatment, the group setting takes you out of a clinical office and somewhere more relaxing where you aren’t just sitting in a group facing one another and talking but rather socializing. Socializing like this can:
- Help you talk to others more openly
- Show you how to enjoy sober activities
- Give you more freedom to build relationships based on shared activities
You might find people in your same group with whom you enjoy hiking, talking, or exploring. From there, you might continue the practice long after your therapy has ended.
Starting Outdoor Therapy with The Differents
At The Differents, our facility is nestled in the Tahoe/Reno area with access to the Tahoe National Forest. We understand the profound impact that being outside in nature can have on an individual, especially on addiction recovery.
That is why all of our programs specialize in recreational therapy or outdoor therapy, with low impact options as well as hikes, snowshoeing, and seasonal activities that cultivate improved exercise levels, socialization, better mood, and increased mindfulness.
To learn more about our PHP, IOP, or withdrawal management and outdoor therapy, call us at (844) 407-0461.
