Fall in New England naturally draws many of us outdoors. Cooler temperatures make walking more comfortable, familiar landscapes begin to change, and the intensity of summer gradually gives way to a quieter season. Beyond simply being an enjoyable time to hike, fall can also be a good opportunity to think about how spending time outdoors affects our mental health.
At Clark Counseling Services, nature based approaches are part of how we think about emotional wellness. Therapy certainly does not need to happen outdoors to be effective, but our surroundings can influence how we experience our thoughts, emotions, and bodies. Sometimes changing the environment gives us a different way of approaching what we have been carrying.
Why Nature Can Feel Restorative
Much of everyday life requires constant attention. We move between work, appointments, emails, social media, family responsibilities, and countless small decisions. Even when we technically have downtime, we may still be surrounded by screens and other forms of stimulation.
Walking outdoors provides a temporary change from that environment. The repetitive movement of walking gives the body something relatively simple to do while our attention can move more freely. We begin noticing the temperature, sounds, changing leaves, uneven ground, or movement of water around us.
This can also help us become more aware of what is happening internally. Stress and anxiety are often experienced physically through muscle tension, shallow breathing, restlessness, fatigue, or a general feeling of being unsettled. During a walk, we may notice some of these sensations more clearly and observe whether they change as we continue moving.
Hiking Without Turning It Into Another Goal
One challenge with using hiking for emotional restoration is our tendency to turn activities into accomplishments. We can track mileage, elevation, pace, calories, heart rate, and steps, which can be useful when fitness is the goal. When emotional restoration is the goal, however, those measurements may be less important.
A restorative hike does not have to involve climbing a mountain or spending an entire day in the woods. A short walk through a local preserve, a flat trail beside a river, or an hour wandering through the forest can serve the same purpose. Stopping to look at something, sitting for a while, taking photographs, or turning around when you have had enough are all perfectly reasonable ways to spend time outdoors.
This also means that nature based activities can be adapted to different levels of mobility, experience, and comfort outdoors. The goal is to find an outdoor experience that works for you rather than trying to meet someone else's definition of hiking.
Bringing Mindfulness Onto the Trail
Hiking provides an easy opportunity to practice mindfulness without making the experience feel like a formal meditation exercise. As you walk, occasionally notice what is happening around you. Pay attention to the colors of the landscape, the feeling of the air, sounds at different distances, or the sensation of your feet meeting the ground.
Your thoughts will inevitably wander toward work, relationships, responsibilities, or whatever else has been occupying your attention. Rather than becoming frustrated with yourself, simply notice where your mind went and gradually return some attention to your surroundings.
You can also notice what happens emotionally during the walk. If a particular concern or feeling keeps returning, you do not necessarily need to solve it. Sometimes allowing an emotion to be present while continuing to move makes it easier to approach than sitting still and deliberately trying to analyze it.
Why Walking Can Work in Therapy
These same qualities can make walking useful as part of psychotherapy. Traditional office therapy works well for many people, but some clients find conversation easier while walking side by side. There may be less pressure for continuous eye contact, periods of silence can feel more natural, and movement can provide another way of staying connected to the body while discussing difficult subjects.
The environment itself can occasionally become part of the conversation. Changes in the season, unexpected obstacles, moments when we need to slow down, or decisions about which direction to take can prompt reflection without needing to turn every part of the natural world into a metaphor.
Nature based therapy simply provides another setting in which therapeutic work can occur while incorporating movement and greater awareness of the environment.
Try an Intentional Fall Walk
If you want to experiment with this idea, set aside thirty minutes to an hour for a walk sometime this fall. Before beginning, briefly notice your mood, energy level, physical tension, and whatever thoughts seem to be occupying your attention.
During the walk, allow yourself to move at a comfortable pace and periodically notice what is happening around you and within your body. When you finish, consider whether anything feels different. You may feel calmer, clearer, physically tired, more aware of an emotion, or simply glad that you spent some time outside.
There does not need to be a major realization for the experience to be worthwhile.
Fall is a particularly interesting season for this practice because change is visible everywhere around us. The landscape gradually shifts from week to week, providing a natural setting for reflecting on the transitions occurring in our own lives. At other times, however, a hike can simply be a hike. Spending an afternoon outside does not always need to become therapeutic homework.
At Clark Counseling Services, we incorporate nature, movement, mindfulness, and ecotherapy into our broader approach to mental health and wellness. For people interested in exploring therapy outside of the traditional office environment, nature based work can provide another way to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with themselves.
Clark Counseling Services, LLC
Clark Counseling Services provides mental health services in Connecticut and Massachusetts, including individual and couples therapy, ecotherapy and nature based approaches, and specialized therapeutic services.