Nature Time is a Worthy Extracurricular Choice
I first started thinking about my brain when I read The Notebook. It was the second book I've ever cried through. The first was Where the Red Fern Grows when I was in the fourth grade. In both books, death and loss come with an added sting. Billy's dogs Little Ann and Old Dan die after an unexpected attack from a mountain lion. In the Notebook, Noah unexpectedly loses his wife Allie in many ways to Alzheimers. Everything about the Notebook makes me want to keep my mind in working order until the day I pass on.
I often come across articles relating nature and the brain. In the past, these posts reminded me of the retired couples I often see strolling the trails at our local parks. They all have cool gear, heads adorned with hair white like the gown of a bride. These couples seem carefree. I envision them heading into the woods as part of a plan to take care of their bodies and their minds -relishing a time period of life when schedules aren't so jammed-packed. When connecting nature and the brain I haven't really thought of myself - or my children. Our memories seem decently intact. My seven year old loses his Pokemon cards here and there. Sometimes I misplace my keys. Minor things overall.
You've probably seen the posts, too. "Nature makes you smarter". Honestly, I haven't paid much attention because so do a lot of other things like music practice, reading and doing puzzles. What's interesting is that the latter are intuitive while the former isn't quite so much. Certainly it makes sense that spending hours on violin drills, trivia, or the study of biology would stretch the brain - as would reading and practicing a classical piano piece. But simply spending time amidst nature makes you smarter? That isn't as intuitive. How can something as simple as location affect IQ?
Among many others reasons, nature affects memory by sending your body into a "relaxation response". The book Brain Longevity has a further information about this. The relaxation response is opposite of the "stress response". When you head into nature your brain can turn off - because the environment around you is inherently interesting. There is no effort required to pay attention when you are in nature - unlike the effort that is required when poring over new text, a new concept, or a new trumpet passage. These are many benefits of landing in the relaxation zone. You will experience a decrease in blood pressure, a decrease in cortisol output, heightened immunity, a decrease in muscle tension, and an increase in alertness. The blood flow to the brain will increase by an impressive 25 percent. In a long term sense, if the relaxation response happens regularly, your body will be much less vulnerable to the stress response to begin with - even when you aren't outside.
I've come to realize that these long terms benefits aren't useful solely for those who are retired. They are desperately needed for our children who undergo considerable stress often from kindergarten through their college-years. The number of stressors children encounter on a daily basis continues to increase. There are the pressures of standardized and high-stakes testing which begin in the 1st grade in many states. America's teens are often more stressed than the adults around them, according to an annual survey published by the American Psychological Association. On average, teens reported their stress level was 5.8 on 10-point scale, compared with 5.1 for adults. There are all sorts of pressures with a high expectation of performance in the areas of schoolwork and sports. Tack on after school job, other extracurriculars, a relentless media culture, and a social life that never turns off and it is easy to understand why much of childhood has become so intense. Social media allows school to follow every child home. There is no escape anymore. There is pressure day in, and day out. Additional childhood stress can come from being over scheduled, feeling pressured to perform or behave beyond ability, meeting new people, starting a new school, difficulty with school work, being bullied, and blended families.
Karen Sullivan, a natural health expert and the author of Kids Under Pressure says 'Parents put children under enormous pressure with heavily orchestrated schedules of extra activities, all of which are designed to help them succeed in life. However, this leaves little free time for children to be children and to relax. Children are often left feeling they are not good enough because they are not 'the best'.' Karen believes that because these activities tend to be achievement-orientated - children are expected to excel at everything including sports, music and their school work - rather than relaxing, they become a drain on a child's free time and on their physical and emotional resources. They have no room left for 'fun' - a lack of which stresses them out even further. Many kids are too busy to have time to play creatively or relax after school.
Stress isn't good for anyone's brain but a child's fast-developing brain is especially vulnerable to the ravages of the cortisol secreted during stressful times. In Brain Longevity, Dharma Singh Khalsa explains that cortisol kills and injures brain cells by the billions and also robs the brain of it's primary fuel, glucose. An excess of cortisol destroys the biochemistry of the brain.
How can we help our children cope? Allow them to experience the "relaxation response". Schedule in blocks of nothing - and spend those blocks of time meandering in nature. We all want our children to be smart and successful. Pressure abounds to do more. But maybe we have it all wrong. Maybe we need to do less of the scheduled stuff and allow our children to spend more time letting their brains relax in nature. This is what will fuel their brains for the short term and the long term - a habit that will benefit them until they are grandparents themselves.
