For many women, menopause marks a period of time when changes in mental health—such as mood swings or irritability—are at an all-time high.1 While you’re doing your best to manage your physical menopause symptoms, you may be wondering what else you can do to better support your mental health during this transitional time.
One simple thing that may help to improve your mood is refocusing some of your time on being present in the great outdoors. In addition to supportive resources like talk therapy and/or medication, getting outside provides a low-cost, accessible way to calm the mind—and fall may just be the perfect season to test out its potential.
In this post, we’ll take a look at what the science says about the connection between nature and mental health and why fall may be the ideal time to reconnect with the outdoors.
The Science of Nature’s Impact on Mental Health
Despite compelling evidence outlining the clear benefits of getting outside, Americans are spending more time indoors—and on screens—than ever before.2 Unfortunately, this has come at a cost.
In recent studies exploring screen time use among adolescents, higher screen time exposure was linked with greater symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.3,4,5 Research reflects similar outcomes in adults, whose sleep, mental state, eye and brain health all suffered when they spent more time on screens.6
More exposure to nature, on the other hand, has some significant benefits for your health.
In fact, one review found that 98% of individuals experienced improved mental health outcomes when they engaged with outdoor, natural environments.7 Similar research suggests that those living in cities with more exposure to green spaces require fewer mental health support services.8,9
But what are the specific benefits of spending time in nature for your mental health? Let’s take a look.
Benefits of Spending Time in Nature
Research reveals that there are many benefits of spending time in nature for mental health. The most common include the following.
Improvements in Cognitive Health
During menopause, concerns regarding cognitive decline may surface,10 mainly due to symptoms like brain fog.
Getting out in nature may help to lower the risk for these potential cognitive symptoms. Studies show that green spaces near schools promote cognitive development in children, while adults living in neighborhoods with green spaces showed better attentional function, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and self control.11
Based on these findings, it seems that spending time outdoors may be one way to sharpen memory and executive functioning during menopause, and potentially protect against cognitive decline.
Stress Reduction
It may feel like there is no limit to the stressful moments you experience throughout menopause. From shifting hormones and disruptive symptoms to increasing career and caregiving demands, midlife provides no shortage of new challenges.
Fortunately, connecting with nature may serve as a hack for lowering stress hormones. Research shows that spending just 20 minutes outdoors can help reduce stress and lower levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that commonly rises during the later stages of menopause.12,13 Additionally, spending time in natural spaces has been shown to help improve physiological markers, like blood pressure and heart rate.14
While sitting outside is a great start—as this alone may provide mental health benefits—moving your body in nature can help to boost these benefits even more.15 Consider trying exercises like walking, hiking, or running to reap even more benefits of spending time in nature.16
A Sensory Experience
Crunchy leaves, vivid colors, and the smell of fresh fall air…
You may remember learning about the importance of “sensory play” for children. It turns out that using our senses to explore the world has benefits for adults, too.
The outdoors provides the ideal template to incorporate all of our senses—touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste—which is critical in not only exploring the world but also building a deeper connection with it.17
Why is this important? For humans, spending time in nature often means noticing beauty and its meaning, despite life’s difficult circumstances. While this sounds more poetic than practical, there’s science behind why sensory experiences benefit mental health.
Behavioral health experts utilize the same approach when encouraging patients to try the 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique as a tool to ground themselves during moments of anxiety. The technique—which encourages clients to acknowledge five things they see, four things they can touch, three things they hear, two things they can smell, and one thing they can taste—relies on the senses to offer calm in stressful situations.18, 19
Nurtured by Nature—Fall is the Perfect Time to Explore Nature as Therapy
Bodies of research conclude that being out in nature can work wonders for supporting mental health and well-being. As the sweltering heat of summer continues to fade, and before temperatures become frigid, fall offers the perfect time to unplug and explore the outdoors.
Resources
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10088347/
- https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11385738/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9815119/
- https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2024/10/428581/preteens-more-screen-time-tied-depression-anxiety-later
- https://health.osu.edu/health/mental-health/how-screen-time-affects-your-health
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9754067/
- https://stories.tamu.edu/news/2024/02/22/study-green-space-improves-mental-health/?
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08901171231210806
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8394691/
- https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/a-20-minute-nature-break-relieves-stress
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2749064/
- https://www.vet.cornell.edu/about-us/news/20200225/spending-time-nature-reduces-stress-and-anxiety
- https://www.vet.cornell.edu/about-us/news/20200225/spending-time-nature-reduces-stress-and-anxiety
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469
- https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/research/nature-how-connecting-nature-benefits-our-mental-health
- https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/behavioral-health-partners/bhp-blog/april-2018/5-4-3-2-1-coping-technique-for-anxiety
- https://www.calm.com/blog/5-4-3-2-1-a-simple-exercise-to-calm-the-mind
