Active in nature
A deeper look at the benefits from nature-based activities and why more work is required to improve access to them for everyone.
Hello, welcome to Compassionate Nature, the weekly digest of psychological research. This article follows on from the previous one to consider the findings of studies on different types of nature-based activities and the benefits they afford.
“I throw back my head, and, feeling free as the wind, breathe in the fresh mountain air. Although I am heavy-hearted, my spirits are rising. To walk in nature is always good medicine.”
The words of US author and naturalist Jean Craighead George, taken from her book On the Far Side of the Mountain, reflect the experience that many people feel from walking in a natural environment, which was supported by the research covered in the previous edition of Compassionate Nature on the mental health benefits from physical activity undertaken in a natural setting.
In April Sport England, the non-governmental body promoting physical activity and non-professional sport engagement across England, published their latest report on activity levels of adults in England. The report was based on data from 2022-23 provided by 172,9689 adults (aged over 18) in England and it defined three levels of activity - at least 150 minutes per week as active, between 30-149 minutes per week as fairly active and inactive as less than 30 minutes per week. An activity was included if it was of moderate intensity and undertaken in durations of at least ten minutes. Unlike some other public health measures of physical activity the Sport England data excludes gardening.
The report shows that from November 2022 to November 2023 around 63% of people met the active criteria, with around 11% meeting the fairly active thresholds, while nearly 26% were classed as inactive. Compared to 2015-2016, the first time Sport England captured activity data, the number of active individuals has increased by 1.3% (or around 2 million people) while the number of people who are fairly active has decreased by 1.4% (just over 400, 000 people). While both those are indicative of positive trends, the percentage of individuals who are inactive has remained fairly static, at around a quarter of the adult population of England.
The report provides more granular analysis, including demographic differences. Men were more likely to be active than women (66% compared to 61%) and perhaps unsurprisingly, activity levels reduce as people get older, so while around 70% of 16-34 year olds are active, this reduces to 62% for the 55-74 year olds and then decreases to 43% of those aged 75 and over. There are also differences across ethnic and socio-economic groups, with lower active levels (53%) from less affluent areas compared to more well-off areas (73% ). The long-term trend in the data also shows that activity levels in the least deprived areas have increased by 2.5%, they have reduced by the same in the most deprived areas. The report also highlights there are often less local opportunities to be active in those deprived areas. Disability and chronic health conditions significantly affect activity levels, although for this group activity levels have increased from around 44% in 2015-16 to around 48% in 2022-23, which is a positive trend. However the report also highlights an increasing gap of available opportunities and support for physical activities between those with a disability or chronic health condition and those without, with increasingly less opportunities for the former.
Of the activities considered by Sport England, the data shows that walking for leisure has continued as the main physical activity, increasing as a regular activity from 18.3 million people in 2015-16 to 22.8m people in 2022-23. Cycling, running and swimming participation levels have all fallen over the same period, with around 300,000 less cyclists and 700,000 less runners and swimmers than in 2015-16. The report also notes the health relationship to activity levels, with those who are more active reporting higher levels of life satisfaction and positive mood.
Compassionate nature is a free reader supported publication, read by over 250 people across 27 countries. Please consider subscribing for free to support my writing and never miss a weekly post. You don’t need to use Substack to subscribe, just an email address which will only ever be used to send each published article.
Some recently published papers have considered the evidence and characteristics relating to some of the key activities included in the Sport England report, as well as a study illustrating how nature based physical activity interventions can be developed for those with impaired health or a disability.
Walking in nature
Jingni Ma, Peilin Lin and Joanne Willaims at the University of Edinburgh recent (2024) systematic review of nature-based walking considered the mental wellbeing benefits from walking in green-spaces and how that was different to walking in other spaces, such as an urban setting. Walking is seen as a broadly accessible form of physical activity than can be brought into daily life, an important consideration given the finding reported from the Mental Health Foundation that 37% of people report it hard to make the time for physical activity. The mental wellbeing benefits from walking in a natural environment have various associated psychological theories, including the restorative aspect of being in nature (Attention Restoration Theory and Stress Reduction Theory) and the sense of attachment to a place which may foster positive emotions. The review considered quantitative studies relating to adults (over 18), green-spaces such as parks and included some form of a comparison to a none green-space. The review included 17 studies, covering 1209 participants of whom only 336 were female. The majority related to healthy participants, with only 2 of the 17 studies relating to a specific health condition (depression) and only 4 of the studies employed a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) design. The selected studies were mainly from the US, Japan and the UK, and all measured either mood or mental wellbeing, with one also including a measure of nature connectedness. The review authors were unable to perform a meta-analysis of the combined data due to inconsistencies across the studies.
The results of the review found 4 studies indicated walking in nature provided benefits to positive mood, with 2 studies showing reductions in negative mood. These results were reported with having a medium to large effect size. Rumination was found to decrease, with a small to medium effect size, as were levels of anxiety, although in that study no effect size was reported. The RCT study results were mixed. One found no difference between a green-space and an urban space, one reported a reduction in anxiety (without effect size again) and two reported reductions in rumination from walking in the green-space in comparison to the control condition. The review notes that the majority of the reviewed studies were of moderate quality, with a wide range of measures used, often using small samples and not all expected data was reported. They also highlight that some of the studies did not report the weather conditions during the study period which can influence participants experience and self-report measures. Overall the review found the studies indicate walking in a green-space reduces anxiety, negative emotions, stress and rumination while fostering positive emotions, which were more likely to be beneficial than walking in other types of environment. It is a good review of the evidence and while the conclusion is supportive of greater mental wellbeing benefits from walking in nature, the review highlights the differences in studies which make combining results difficult (a common issue) and the lack of nature connectedness measures in the studies does hamper interpretation of the relationship between activity and environment.
Running scenes
Does the type of natural environment play a role in our choice of physical activity and motivation for undertaking the activity ? A 2024 paper by Agata Gadjedk and colleagues considers the characteristics of landscape upon long distance running, with the hypothesis that running in good quality outdoor green-spaces enhances mental health benefits. The study used an online survey of runners during 2021 to understand their motivation for long distance running and what environmental characteristics of runs were influential. The survey had 322 respondents, aged between 24 to 55 years old, of whom 68% were male. The majority of the participants lived in towns and cities across Poland and overall they took part in running in more urban spaces than in green-spaces. For urban based runs, following courses designed around tourist attractions in cities was influential, while for green-space based runs the trail profile and landscape were reported as very important factors in taking part. For many the additional challenges the natural landscape provided was more important than any awards or costs involved. The natural landscape was an influential consideration for 76% of the runners, with 66% reporting taking notice of nature while running. The urban landscape was not as influential as a motivation with levels of noticing nature lower during urban-based runs. The results suggest that the runners were motivated to use popular mountain running routes due to the characteristics of the diverse landscape, changes in terrain and the additional challenge this presented in comparison to urban running. The results are limited in that it was taken over a summer period, so there may be seasonal differences which are not captured, and the survey did not explore more discreet or multi-sensory features of the landscape. The results do suggest though that natural landscapes can help with motivating runners and hints at the role nature connection can have during physical activity, which in this case could help inform running programmes. It is a study of a specific high intensity activity and so generalisation is not possible, however I thought the study was helpful in highlighting the natural landscape provided these runners with a dual motivation for the physical activity, supporting both the challenge of the run and the contact with nature.
Wild about swimming
Swimming was another key physical activity reported in the Sport England report and wild swimming has been previously considered in this Compassionate Nature article on blue-spaces. Just after that was published a 2024 paper by Alexia Barrable, Tanya Wünsche and Anna Touloumakos looked further at the connection to nature and health benefits from wild swimming using an online survey of 419 mainly female participants, who were invited to share their thoughts via three open questions.
The analysis identified five key themes from the participants responses. First the sense of immersion that swimming provides, of being part of and at one with nature, highlighting the link between the physical activity and nature connectedness. This in turn supported the theme of perspective, providing the swimmers a different point of view on nature and on themselves during the activity, which also provided a connection and attachment to the place they swam in. The activity allowed the swimmers to encounter nature in a different way, such as interacting with animals in the water, which they found fostered a compassionate response towards supporting and protecting nature. The fourth theme was the multi-sensory engagement that wild swimming brought, coupled with the sense of awe and beauty from being within a natural environment. Lastly the participants noted the therapeutic benefits from the physical activity, specifically how they felt supported by the water. Interestingly in addition these wellbeing benefits, a number of the respondents highlighted that a nature-based physical activity like wild swimming had encouraged them to undertake more pro-environmental behaviours, borne out of the greater connection to nature that the activity afforded. It is a qualitative study with limited demographics across the sample so it is hard to generalise, however I thought interesting to see how the natural environment was so pivotal to the health benefits that the swimmers expressed from the activity and how this also linked into taking action to protect the environment.
Surfing the waves
As the Sport England report highlighted people with disabilities or long term health conditions have lower activity levels and also appear to have less opportunities to be active or be supported. A 2022 paper by Lowri Wilkie, Zoe Fisher and Andrew Kemp is an example of how a nature based activity can be tailored to support people with a disability or health condition, in this case individuals who had suffered an acquired brain injury (ABI). The team developed an intervention based around surfing, to support benefits from social and nature connectedness, reporting their findings in a mixed-method study of 18 adults (aged 18 and over) who had suffered a moderate to severe ABI. The study period was across 2019 to 2021, with the intervention consisting of weekly 2-hour surfing sessions for groups of up to 5 people and held over 5 weeks, with the surfing tailored to the requirements of each individual. Measures of wellbeing, depression and anxiety, along with heart rate variability (HRV) were taken at the start and end of the intervention. Additionally in 2022 a follow-up focus group consisting of 4 participants provided qualitative data on their experience.
The results indicated the surfing intervention significantly reduced levels of anxiety and increased levels of wellbeing and happiness. The focus group feedback highlighted that participants enjoyed taking part in a physical activity that presented a challenge, which helped overcome fear and enabled a shared sense of achievement. Seeing themselves and others progress during the surfing sessions provided optimism and self-confidence. Following the surfing sessions the focus group also reported increased levels of physical activity, greater sense of independence and deeper connection to nature. The study is limited by a lack of a control group and some of the feedback may have been influenced by covid restrictions during the study period. I liked this study, as it covered a less common nature-based activity which supported many facets of psychological wellbeing and demonstrated that with a thoughtful and adapted approach, individuals with impaired health can be supported to undertake physical activities that many may take for granted.
The Sport England report underlies the benefits of being physical active, but also highlights the inequalities that influence activity levels, including where you live, age, health, and ethnicity. Access to good quality local green and blue-spaces is a key barrier, with travel costs to access natural environments, personal safety concerns and environmental issues such as sewage discharge into rivers being prohibitive factors. The reviewed papers suggest physical activity in a natural environment provides greater wellbeing benefits and may support a deeper connection to nature, which in turn may act as motivating factor to stay active, as well as encouraging behaviours that support the natural environment. Addressing health barriers such as disabilities is also a key focus area, given the findings of the Sport England report, and as can be seen from the surfing intervention, the mental wellbeing benefits can be hugely supportive in managing health conditions.
Being physically active is a major benefit to our physical and mental health. Being able to be active in a natural environment appears to present additional benefits. Providing access to local, good quality green and blue spaces to support various physical activities for everyone irrespective of ability, background or health should be a major public health goal.
Thanks ever so much for reading this article. All the research reviewed are open access studies, so are freely available to read in detail via the links in the article or from the references below. If you think the article would be helpful to someone else please do share on, it is a freely available public post.
I would also love to hear what you think. Please a comment, send me an email at TheCompassionateNatureHub@gmail.com or leave a reply if you see it via social media.
You can also support my work for free by subscribing to the publication and join over two hundred and fifty readers in never missing a weekly post. All you need is an email address. Your support means a great deal - thank you
References
Barrable, A., Wünsche, T. U., & Touloumakos, A. K. (2024). In “nature’s embrace”: Exploring connection to nature as experienced through wild swimming. Journal of Ecopsychology, 4, 2, 1-13. https://joe.nationalwellbeingservice.com/volumes/volume-4-2024/volume-4-article-2
Gajdek, A., Kasprzyk, I., & Ortyl, B. (2024). The importance of landscape during long-distance running activity. Sustainability, 16(2), 883. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16020883
Ma, J., Lin, P., & Williams, J. (2024). Effectiveness of nature-based walking interventions in improving mental health in adults: A systematic review. Current Psychology, 43(11), 9521-9539. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05112-z
Wilkie, L., Fisher, Z., & Kemp, A. H. (2022). The ‘rippling’waves of wellbeing: a mixed methods evaluation of a surf-therapy intervention on patients with acquired brain injury. Sustainability, 14(15), 9605. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159605