Our “Natural Health Service”

The Effects of Nature on Our Wellbeing

Horsham District Council clearly recognises the multitude of positive effects on our health and general wellbeing from being out in nature. Their wellbeing walks are hugely popular as are the cycle rides and exercise classes they offer and Rookwood provides a wonderful opportunity for these same kinds of activities to take place daily and informally for the 42,000 townsfolk of Horsham, without the need for administration, supervision or timetabling.

Exercise

Exercise has been shown to be as effective as many medications for depression, as it releases endorphins (feel good hormones which can also act as pain relief). It’s often said that if someone could bottle what exercise does for us, or put it in a pill, they would be multimillionaires!

Physical Effects

Regular exercise lowers our heart rate and our blood pressure. It improves our balance, strengthens muscles, improves blood flow, increases our flexibility and stamina and slows ageing. Simply walking, because it is a bilateral movement, allows the two brain hemispheres to connect, enabling clear thinking and problem-solving to take place. Deep breathing calms our parasympathetic nervous system, soothing us as it switches off our stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline.

Microbes and Microbiome

In addition, we improve our immune systems by increasing our gut microbiome by breathing in fresh countryside air and being with plants and soil. Our gut bacteria have a well-documented link with our mental health, including depression. So by walking and playing in clean green spaces, we are boosting our family’s immune systems naturally. Infant schools are now introducing mud play as it is recognised that the microbes in soil have a real part to play in our gut health which supports our immune system. Most new antibiotics (of which there are worryingly few) are found in the soil, as are the good bacteria we need to keep us healthy.

Communication

Walking in a country park is multi-generational in a way that very few things are these days. We’re walking side by side, heading in the same direction, shoulder to shoulder, looking at the same thing from the same point of view, moving towards the same destination - both literally and metaphorically. We’re not opposing each other divided by a TV, or a desk, or a screen but we are together, moving physically. Indeed, it is said that for business leaders, the real work is done not in the office, but on the golf course!

In visits to our GP surgeries, a third of appointments are for stress-related problems, while the waiting lists for counselling in schools and colleges continue to grow. Pharmaceutical factories are making anti-depressants while we have a well-trialled way of beating depression which is effective in many cases:- allowing our children somewhere to play outdoors, where they can develop independence, resilience, strong bodies and generating their own natural high through play. Releasing endorphins has been effective in this way for thousands of years. Depression in children is a very new phenomena.

Retreats

Retreats have always been a great antidote to stress and a good retreat takes us away from the noisy bustle of life. It’s like a garden of remembrance, offering stillness and quiet in the cathedral of nature. In our secular world, it is important to be able to find a peaceful place to rest. A Japanese word, “karoshi” was invented around 50 years ago to describe a phenomenon of employees who die of heart failure or commit suicide due to overwork and stress. Here in the UK, suicide is now the biggest killer of males aged 19-50 in the UK. The Japanese response? Forest Bathing or immersion in nature is recommended for men whose lives are in in danger due to stress. We are part of nature and as we breathe out carbon dioxide, the trees take it in and return oxygen to us, so we really can breathe more easily in the woods.

Communing with Nature

Many of us discovered beautiful quiet, local walks in lockdown, and groups such as Fresh Air Fridays recognise that our mental health is helped enormously by walking in nature. Walking meditations are also a recognised as an effective support for depression as being outdoors changes our brain so we are more able literally to see the big picture- to see the sky, do ‘blue sky thinking’. We realise we’re small, insignificant beings in the great scheme of things. Nature will be fine without us. It’s us who will not be fine without nature. We are part of nature. Nature and the planet do not belong to us. The opposite is true.

Rookwood and Wellbeing

With relevance to our own wellbeing and to Rookwood park, the Dalai Lama said on accepting his Nobel Peace Prize in 1989:

“It is of little benefit to try to solve one problem if doing so creates an equally serious new one…Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. What is important is that we each make a sincere effort to take our responsibility for each other and for the natural environment we live in seriously.”