I grew up in the country, so I’ve always enjoyed spending time outside in nature. It wasn’t until somewhere around my late 20s and early 30s I started hiking. It started out as a weekend photography excursion and eventually, morphed into what I lovingly referred to as “therapy time.” No matter how I was feeling, or the worries I was stressed about, once I started moving my way through the woods, I immediately felt better. Everything became clearer and simple. Problems I had struggled with all week, melted away. I got it all out – out of my head, out of my body, out of my life. It was a purging, if you will, of all the anxiety and pent up energy accumulated during the work week. If there were weekends where I couldn’t make it out to the woods for my weekly therapy session, I could definitely tell a difference. Come Monday morning, instead of feeling clear-headed, focused, and motivated, I felt foggy, bogged down, and disoriented. The solution was not to add more coffee to my work day. The solution was to unplug and go for a walk in the woods.
I came across this study the other day online about Japanese “forest bathing.” They call it “shinrin-yoku” which translates to taking in the forest atmosphere. It’s basically hiking. Guess what they discovered? The benefits of spending time in nature relieves depression, improves focus, and makes you feel more alive. Really? I find it amusing we have to do a scientific study about something which we all should know intrinsically. But, I absolutely love the imagery conjured from calling it “forest bathing” as opposed to hiking. It feels as though it’s a more accurate depiction of what is really going on out there in the mysterious woods.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Go for a walk in the woods. We all know exercise is good for you, so any type of movement is a positive step (pun intended) in the right direction. If you live in a city, heading out into the woods may not be an option. Usually there is some type of outdoors option though. Nashville, for example, has a Greenway system which is a protected trail through the woods that winds its way around the city. It’s the hiking option for urban city dwellers. I spent an enormous amount of time on the Greenway when I lived in Nashville. When I wanted something a little more challenging (or fewer people), it was only a short drive away. The Greenways, public parks, or even your neighborhood are all good alternatives. If you have a choice, I recommend the walk in the woods. There is something primal and grounding about the smell of wet wood, wildflowers, and a babbling creek over river stones. It’s energizing to feel your muscles lengthen and stretch in a way that they weren’t able to all week sitting at a desk. It’s almost as if they’re waking up and trying to see how far they can go. As you take that first deep breath of the forest, you realize it was the first deep breath of the week.
I recently finished reading Arianna Huffington’s book Thrive. In the book, she talks about how she often has walking meetings. Instead of sitting around a conference table, they all go for a walk in the woods and have their meeting there. I love this idea! It boosts productivity, improves morale, inspires competition, and boosts creativity. Makes total sense. Not only do I get my best ideas when I’m out walking, but there’s usually no cell phone service either. Think about all of those pointless conference table office meetings you’ve attended. Half the people are on their cellphones and the other half are thinking about all of the other meetings and tasks they need to accomplish before the end of the day. My experience with those kinds of meetings are people are unprepared and uninterested. They’re a waste of time. At least if you have a walking meeting it’s something different from everything else in your day. For some, it may be the only time they’re outside – apart from arriving/departing to/from work. I’m guessing by the time they’re done with their walk, they have not only had a productive meeting, but they also have some ideas and solutions for other projects they need to tackle later on in the day.
The idea is catching on too as more and more CEO’s are taking their meetings outdoors (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/18/walking-meetings-productive_n_5333120.html). Why did it take so long for this idea to make its way to the corporate world? Maybe it’s too “out there” for mainstream companies. The whole if-it-ain’t-broken-don’t-fix-it mentality.
The problem is, it is broken. The work philosophies of being the first in the office and the last to leave or having an hour-long meeting in the conference room about something that could have been discussed in an online workspace like Slack, is a leftover from the Veteran and Baby Boomer generations. Millennials don’t like pointless meetings and I’ll go ahead and speak for the Gen X crew and say we don’t like them either. We don’t adhere to the first in/last out mentality and we certainly do not subscribe to the “this is the way we’ve always done it” mindset. If your company still has these as your unwritten mottoes, I suggest you spend some time conversing with your workforce. Find out how they like to communicate and collaborate. Get to know them and find out how they get their most creative and innovative ideas. Personally, I think we’d all benefit from a little less screen time and a little more forest bathing time. The world is changing. You will need to change with it or get left behind.