By Katie Carlson
There are many, often overlooked, benefits to spending time in nature, ranging from supporting personal well-being and recovery from life’s stressors to helping us better navigate unfamiliar or chaotic environments, like the realities of law enforcement.
When we consider the ancient architecture and evolution of human survival through the fight-or-flight mechanisms of the sympathetic nervous system, we might underestimate the benefits of spending time outdoors as we return to our resting, natural state — rest-and-digest, or the parasympathetic nervous system.
The benefits of spending time outdoors extend beyond simply “getting fresh air.” A meta-analysis of 143 studies found that exposure to greenspace was associated with lower blood pressure, reduced stress hormones, lower heart rates, and decreased rates of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and overall mortality. These findings suggest that spending time in parks, forests and other natural environments may be a simple yet powerful tool for supporting long-term health and recovery from stress. [1]
Notably, many of the benefits identified in the meta-analysis — including reductions in heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol, along with improvements in heart rate variability — reflect the body’s shift away from chronic sympathetic activation (“fight-or-flight”) and toward a more regulated autonomic nervous system.
Beyond physical health and nervous system benefits, spending time in nature — staring at the stars in a vast sky, watching an extraordinary sunset or taking in a scenic view — can also provide emotional benefits through the state of awe.
Awe, a complex emotion, is described by Jeff Thompson, Ph.D., as “an emotion that is experienced in the presence of someone or something extraordinary that challenges people’s current thinking and perspectives,” and “a gateway to other positive emotions as well as resilience practices.” Thompson, a researcher, retired NYPD officer and friend of the author, has explored the role of awe in promoting resilience among police officers. Those moments, especially when shared with others, can strengthen resilience and overall well-being. [2]
Despite millions of years of evolving in relationship with nature, our relative avoidance of the outdoors is fairly new, emerging alongside the Industrial Revolution and inventions like automobiles and air conditioning. Now, it is possible to almost completely avoid spending time outside, but our nervous systems still long for the sensory experiences of the sun warming our faces or a fresh breeze on a hot day.
After a critical incident, peer supporters and public safety wellness advocates encourage first responders to engage in recovery efforts like moving their bodies and participating in light exercise. Those benefits can become even more effective when we encourage and nudge people to spend time outdoors while doing so.
Using nature to enhance recovery after critical incidents
Not all time spent outdoors is equal. In the couple of centuries since humans escaped the need to spend time outside at all, our relationship with nature has seemingly devolved from one of interdependence to one of control.
Whether it’s “paving paradise” for a parking lot, cutting down trees and the enormous ecosystems they contain for development purposes, or taking a walk but leaving litter behind, our bodies and nervous systems did not evolve separately from the natural world, but in relationship with the world around us. Returning to that sense of being “in relationship,” rather than dominant or “in control,” is naturally regulating for our nervous systems.
When we consider ourselves part of a web of natural life — not separate from it — how we treat the environment becomes a reflection of how we treat ourselves. Taking care of the world around us, whether it’s our home, office, front yard or garden, often reflects our own well-being.
These environmental considerations are included in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Eight Dimensions of Wellness, which include Emotional, Financial, Social, Spiritual, Occupational, Physical, Intellectual and Environmental Wellness. [3]
The Eight Dimensions overlap and interact to paint a picture of holistic well-being — not just the absence of illness or suffering, but the presence of joy and purpose in life.
When discussing the Eight Dimensions of Wellness in training settings, many examples shared by participants reflect the themes explored in this article: keeping your house or office tidy, doing yard work, recycling, picking up trash, spending time outside and going someplace new.
Exploring new places doesn’t have to mean an expensive vacation or faraway travel, but simply visiting a new park in your town — or the town over — and allowing your senses to take in a place that is new to you. While the number of cadets familiar with the song is shrinking at an alarming rate, I like to describe this version of recovery using the Jimmy Buffett song “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes.”
These highly sensory experiences of exploring an unfamiliar place are some of the best antidotes we have for a brain that is stuck in fight-or-flight.
What could elevate these outdoor experiences even more, particularly when recovering from a critical incident? Visiting these new places with people we love and care about.
Whether I’m providing peer support to a first responder after a critical incident or teaching at the Training Academy, I always encourage people to spend time outside, perhaps visiting a new or favorite park with the people they care about most. It’s a free, accessible and enjoyable sensory experience that can support recovery from the stress of the job and provide respite for the racing mind.
A couple of days after a particularly tragic critical incident, I went looking for a supervisor who had been involved, but when I got to his office, I was told, “He went to the lake with his girlfriend.” I felt instant relief. Just hearing that he was spending time with a loved one in the great outdoors gave me more assurance that he would make a full recovery than a peer support conversation ever could.
When discussing the emotional aftermath of an officer-involved shooting, I’ve heard other officers attribute a well-timed camping trip as a major factor in their recovery.
In addition to spending time outside, emerging studies point to walking as a natural form of bilateral stimulation — the same mechanism used in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a therapy that has become increasingly popular for processing trauma. In other words, a simple walk-and-talk with a friend or colleague may promote clarity and emotional processing in ways that sitting inside an artificially lit room does not always achieve.
Honoring our skills of attunement in nature
Spending time in nature may offer a form of training that doesn’t come from textbooks or the Academy.
Reflecting again on the evolution of our relationship with the environment — from being part of a system to trying to dominate and control it — while there are many benefits to going on a walk with a friend, there are also lessons to be learned from moving through nature quietly and with curiosity.
What can we notice when we become quiet and observe the world around us? How many different bird calls can we hear in the trees? How clearly can we feel the breeze on our skin? Can we walk quietly enough not to disturb wildlife, like deer? How much can we observe when we become still and tuned in to our senses?
Ask a skilled hunter whether they’re listening to the radio, talking loudly or wandering aimlessly through the woods — or waiting quietly, sometimes for hours, for the right opportunity.
This same skill set — learning how to become part of a situation rather than trying to dominate or control it — can be immensely helpful to a law enforcement officer both on and off the job.
Obviously, when danger looms and seconds count, law enforcement officers are trained extensively to bring a situation back under control.
But when the threat has passed — especially in incidents involving multiple public safety agencies and organizations — there can sometimes be “too many cooks in the kitchen.”
Have you ever had a supervisor, whether from your agency or another, arrive on scene like a wrecking ball?
When people are more concerned with being in charge or wanting things done “their way,” valuable information and cues regarding the needs of those involved can be overlooked.
In other words, we can practice attuning to our environment in ways that physically and emotionally benefit our own nervous systems while also gaining the skills needed to attune to situations of chaos, shock and grief.
Whether it’s getting outside as a healthy activity that supports recovery or practicing our ability to navigate challenging situations by learning to become part of the environment rather than trying to control it, developing a healthy relationship with the environment around us benefits every law enforcement officer — and the people who support them.
References
1. Twohig-Bennett C, Jones A. (2018). The health benefits of the great outdoors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of greenspace exposure and health outcomes. Environmental Research, 166, 628–637.
2. Thompson J. (2023). Police well-being interventions: Using awe narratives to promote resilience. Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being, 8 (4), 197–204.
3. Swarbrick M. (2006). A Wellness Approach. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 29(4), 311–314.
About the author
Katie Carlson serves as Director of Wellness Initiatives for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) in Indianapolis, where she leads agency-wide wellness programming and coordinates the Peer Support Team. She teaches resilience, nervous system regulation and peer support skills at the MCSO and the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. Carlson is a certified Yoga Teacher (CitYoga, 2019) and Mindfulness Meditation Teacher (Engaged Mindfulness Institute, 2022). She was recognized by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation as the 2023 Emerging Leader in Crisis Intervention for her work in peer support and holistic wellness for public safety. She is a published author and frequent presenter on officer wellness, peer support and resilience in policing.