How Spending Time In Nature Can Lead to a Longer and Healthier Life: Understanding Endorphins

How spending time in nature can lead to a longer and healthier life is a question that humankind has attempted to answer, throughout the course of history.

Nature’s pathway is one of joy and sorrow. They affect your health in a positive or negative manner. . The pathway of sorrow is a lonely one, while the pathway of joy is one of delight. It is said that you cannot know the fullness of true joy, until you have experienced the anguish of sorrow.  

Confrontations in nature’s realm of discovery reveal that no one is exempt from its wrath. The extremes of anguish can result in health problems. But there is always the other aspect of perfection, beauty and genius in nature that offers healing, health and wholeness to humankind.

Anything that causes stress can prove problematic with respect to health, but the human body instinctively seeks to establish and maintain a healthy, physiological balance in which nature plays an active role. For instance, consider the role of endorphins in health.

What are endorphins?

According to medicinenet.net, the word endorphin signifies “a hormonal compound that is made by the body in response to pain or extreme physical exertion. Endorphins are similar in structure and effect to opiate drugs. They are responsible for the so-called runner's high and release of these essential compounds permits humans to endure childbirth, accidents, and strenuous everyday activities".     

Spending time in nature can prove instrumental in the release of endorphins, particularly when you are physically active within nature’s realm. Activity leads to the release of endorphins.

Medicinenet.com suggests that “in addition to decreased feelings of pain, secretion of endorphins leads to feelings of euphoria, modulation of appetite, release of sex hormones, and enhancement of the immune response. With high endorphin levels, we feel less pain and fewer negative effects of stress.”

Nature offers a unique realm of peacefulness, contentment and potential relaxation that in turn leads to healing, health and wholeness of the body, mind and spirit. It can also bring about undeniable euphoria. For example, the beauty of a rainbow stimulates the mind, causing you to lose sight of pain or sorrow, at least for a moment. Watching mallard ducks in a pond quiets the human soul, simultaneously reducing fear and the release of excessive adrenalin.     

Exercise is a major factor in human health. Being outside in the fresh air and sunshine, exploring the infinite realms of nature increases the level of natural vitamin D in the human body. It improves your appetite, which leads to better health, especially when there is awareness and participation in the nutritional aspects of natural food consumption. 

You cannot underestimate the positive benefits of sunshine and fresh air with respect to health and living a long life.        

How spending time in nature can lead to a longer and healthier life may remain a mystery, like nature itself. Nature’s realm, including the fountain of youth, is always open to exploration and revelation of new truth.