Social Benefits of Wilderness

“The tendency nowadays to wander in wilderness is delightful to see. Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.” —naturalist and author, John Muir

I was sifting through papers I’ve collected, throwing some away and pausing to reread other. One such paper I reread was about wilderness. Wilderness and wild places have had a profound impact on me.  So, with the reread I decided it would be worth sharing.

Wilderness – The Importance of Wilderness to Spiritual and Mental Health

Hammock Camp

I set up my hammock at Ashley Lake and spent the night in a thunder storm. It was very loud and wet with lots of flashing lights.

This Is Your Brain on Nature

The following is a great article on the magic of nature’s medicine:

This Is Your Brain on Nature
A National Geographic Magazine Article
Written by Florence Williams, January 2016

Williams takes a backpacking trip with David Strayer, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Utah who specializes in attention.  Williams says, “Strayer is in a unique position to understand what modern life does to us.  An avid backpacker, he thinks he knows the antidote: Nature”.  In her article, Williams gives examples of research on how nature can positively affect us.  “At the end of the day,” Strayer says, “we come out in nature not because the science says it does something to us, but because of how it makes us feel.”