Op/ed: 5 Reasons Going Outside Boosts Your Mental Health (Even When It’s Dark)

Even if dropping temperatures and fleeting daylight suggest it’s time to hibernate on your couch (or in a well-heated gym), don’t call an end to your daily walk or weekend excursions, suggests a University of Maryland psychology researcher writing with a clinical health psychologist.

In a new essay in USA Today, Jessica Magidson associate professor of psychology and director of the Center for Substance Use, Addiction and Health Research at UMD, and Michal Moskowitz, a clinical psychologist at Rockville Internal Medicine Group in Maryland, tout the mental health benefits of tuning into your senses and opening up to a sense of awe on a late fall or winter outdoor experience.

In a recent outdoor therapy session, a client shared what she noticed while walking on the trail. The way the light shimmers on the water, the tree branches swaying, the leaves rustling and how the trees are different from each other. She felt calm. Relief. Belonging. Awe, looking around at how “big” the world is. Her problems felt slightly smaller on the walk back.

For many people, this time of year can be hard on your mental health. The sun sets earlier as the skies get cloudier and the temperature drops. Seasonal depression can set in, bringing down our mood and energy. We might feel more sluggish and want to retreat inside. But even as we enter a darker and colder season, we can turn to nature to keep seasonal mental health shifts at bay.

Read the rest of the article in USA Today.