April 4 // Peacefulness, Awe, and Time Outside

the healing power of time in nature

Hello! This month’s theme for personal growth is Peacefulness. Have you ever been around someone who just seems calm inside? True “inner peace” is a very deep, spiritual concept that we won’t be talking about here—you can read my free newsletter Hope’s Notes for spiritual content—but this month we will discuss some practical ways to fight stress and anxiety and create some degree of peace.

I have great news: the most time-tested and effective way to do this also costs $0: spend time outside. If you could bottle up the benefits of spending time in nature, you could charge tens of thousands of dollars for it. There have been numerous studies that suggest a connection between nature and healing. For example:

• Recovering surgery patients with a window view of trees used fewer pain meds and recovered more quickly than patients with views of a brick wall (Ulrich 1984)

• People who spent at least two hours a week in green spaces had noticeably better health and psychological well-being (White 2019)

• There have been links between contact with nature and community cohesion/lower crime (Weinstein 2015)

And there are many more. You don’t need to read more studies, though, because I’m sure you’ve experienced it: you have an awful day then you take a walk, smell the fresh air, feel the breeze, and see a sunset, ocean, or even just a tree that’s so much bigger than you…and suddenly your problems seem a little smaller. Because they are.

I suspect that one of the reasons we feel better after being outside is because of awe. It is good for our mental health to be in awe. It makes us happy and hopeful to be amazed—even surprised—by beauty. (As a Christian, being in awe of God is where my heart is at home.)

Spending time in nature as a family is an incredibly efficient way to find healing for the body, mind, and spirit because it benefits everyone in your family all at the same time.

So, as families, let’s focus on Peacefulness this month. Let’s prioritize our mental health together. And let’s do it by enjoying the great outdoors.

Challenge: 100 Hours Outside

19th-century educator Charlotte Mason recommended spending 4-6 hours outside on days with good weather, and that’s a lot. But I think we can all try for 100 hours in 30 days, right? It’s totally doable!

1000 Hours Outside designed an adorable tracker so I recommend downloading it (free) from their site.

You can also track using their App or, obviously, a simple note on your phone or anything else that works for you.

Don’t beat yourself up about this, but it’s a challenge. If you’re living somewhere that’s still quite cold (hi, Wisconsin friends! 👋) maybe try for 50. The real goal isn’t really 100, but just more. This month, let’s all spend more time outside than we normally would.

Parenting Hack: What To Do Outside

The first question you’re thinking is probably “What are we supposed to do outside?” Not everyone lives in a nature-rich area, either.

As someone who comes from Florida suburbs, I know the challenges of spending time outside when you don’t live near a ton of parks or hikes. Here’s my advice: Which of your normal everyday activities can be brought outside? You might find that choosing to do things outside creates fewer messes for you. It’s a win win win.

• Have your kids do their homework outside

• Eat as many meals as you can on your driveway, yard, patio, etc.; cheese boards and foods with communal plates work extra well for this

• Ask local Facebook groups about the best places to take walks; if your area lacks public parks, some wealthier neighborhoods might have beautiful walking trails; you can also check Alltrails

• Make a list of your friends who are okay with spontaneous invitations, and ask them to join you when you visit the playground. Time outside goes much more quickly (for your kids and for you!) when you have friends!

• Bring watercolors and paint outside!

• If you don’t have any wandering toddlers, read aloud outside! Invite your kids to bring a beach towel and just lay down and relax while you read to them (one of our absolute favorites: The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson)

• Tinkergarten made a neat calendar of ideas to do outside this month! And 1000 Hours Outside’s blog and podcast are always gold mines of encouragement

Tomorrow we will share more ideas for things to do outside. Again, this challenge is supposed to ease stress, not create it. But it’s also supposed to stretch you; we do hard things around here at Family Scripts 😉 Enjoy!

One more thing: though we support being environmentally conscious, this might be a good month to use paper plates and plastic baggies to make meal cleanup simpler! Thursday’s meal plan is themed with “on-the-go” meals.

I hope this was helpful and encouraging!

Warmly,

Hope from Family Scripts

P.S. This song by Jon Foreman is a rich reflection on the concept of inner peace: “How can we be ourselves if we don’t know who we are?”