If your idea of camping is a hotel without room service, we’ve got news for you: your brain needs you to go camping. Being out in nature—not just looking at it from your car window, but actual toes-in-the-grass being in nature—works wonders for your brain. And we’re not just talking a fifteen-minute break with the pigeons in the park before you head back to your cubicle. We’re talking a weekend away from your cell phone and your cares.
Recent research has shown that not only does time spent in nature help you destress, it actually helps your brain function better. People who spent three days backpacking in natural surroundings did 50 percent better on a test of creativity than people who left their gear in the garage.
Even if you can’t get away from it all you can get away from it some, and that will still help your brain. Researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School analyzed data to find that people who lived near green space (even just a park) were less likely to have depression, migraines, and anxiety than people who did not. Re- searchers suspect that being out in nature helps your brain primarily by lowering stress hormones in your body. One researcher speculates that because we evolved in nature, we naturally relax once we are back in nature. It turns out that one of the best ways to boost your happiness is to hit the trails.