How Nature Can Improve Your Health and Your Writing
Desiree Smith-Daughety
If the longer, warmer, and sunnier days leading into summer don’t lure you outside, away from your desk, this might entice you: going outside in nature is good for your mental and physical health, and for your writing.
As writers, the work we do is with our minds, not our bodies—unless we’re enacting a fight scene to get those key details right. Writing is often solitary, and sedentary, work. But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that physical inactivity can lead to long-term harm, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
Engaging in physical activity out in nature is one way to soak up health benefits, such as better sleep, increased vitamin D production, improved energy and focus, and emotional and mental health restoration. Additionally, according to a 2022 study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, time spent in nature increases your creativity. The variety of health benefits going outside offers can directly benefit your writing work.
Mixing Work and Pleasure
While you’re outside, you can still work but in a different, relaxed, and meditative way. Nature offers a wealth of sensory experiences. Harness details from your time outside to infuse directly into your writing, bringing scenes alive so your readers more fully enter the worlds you create. What you see, hear, smell, touch, and taste can influence how you portray your characters and their interactions with their world.
Threading descriptive sensory details into your writing creates a more immersive experience for your readers by engaging their own senses, tapping directly into their brain through your words. For writers, vivid, bold imagery can paint your scenes into vibrant life. Taking the time for some activity out in nature can be a boon to your health and your writing endeavors.
Write Outside Your Door
Take advantage of your time outside by turning it into a writing exercise. After you’ve gotten some physical activity, find a spot where you can stand or sit comfortably. Remove your shoes and place your bare feet on the earth.
Once you’re comfortable, close your eyes and take three slow, deep breaths, exhaling a little longer than the inhale.
Now, work through each of your senses:
Touch: Begin with the sensation of your feet on the ground. What are your toes and the soles of your feet experiencing? Is the ground cool or warm? Rough or gentle?
Smell: Inhale deeply. What scents do you detect: fresh-mown lawn, manure placed on a garden bed, a whiff of pine trees?
Hearing: Close your eyes and concentrate on as many sounds as your ears can capture. What do you hear? Birds? Insects? Traffic and machinery?
Sight: Open your eyes. What objects, shapes, and colors are around you?
Taste: You don’t need to lick the bark of a tree for this one … unless you’re so moved. Does the air have a taste? Is there a feeling of refreshment on your tongue?
Take a notebook to record your thoughts and impressions. Be wary of using a computer or your notes app, as you might become distracted with emails and scrolling, which defeats the purpose of your work outside.
Desiree Smith-Daughety