Go Outside! Disconnect. Your Body Will Thank YOU!

Have you ever spent multiple days away from normal life?  Have you ever disconnected, like truly disconnected from technology, normal flow and civilization?  I have been backpacking for a while now.  With 30+ trips under my belt, there is something that I begin to notice on the 3rd day.  Everything begins to change.  Of course the first couple days include normalization and acclimatization  but beginning on the third day, the vibe of the whole group change.

There is an awareness and understanding the the only thing that matters is the trail in front of you and the beauty around you. The ritual of setting up your campsite, gathering around the fire, sharing meals, filtering water, taking down your campsite, etc. is now your day-to-day existence. It’s a bonding experience. Your old reality begins to fade away.

Florence Williams, the author of the The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier and More Creative (W.W. Norton, 2017) writes about this in her book.  She introduces readers to Neuroscientist David Strayer, who teaches and does  research at the University of Utah. Strayer often takes time away to go backpacking talks about how some of his best ideas come about after three days in the backcountry. 

In The Nature Fix, Strayer says, “Having hiked around the desert for years, I noticed in myself, and from talking to others, that people think differently after being out in the desert. Their thoughts are clearer, they’re certainly more relaxed, they report being more creative”. “If you can disconnect and experience being in the moment for two or three days, it seems to produce a difference in qualitative thinking.”

Strayer wanted to find ways to test what he started calling “the three-day effect,” a kind of neural reboot that might boost creativity. “I wanted to try to understand what was going on inside the brain,” he says.

Williams then talks about a study that Strayer conducted in 2012.  It was later published and can be read about here.  Strayer and his colleagues followed and studied 28 backpackers before and after Outward Bound trips. The research team conducted tests which showed participants performed almost 50% improvement in a creative thinking and insight problem-solving.

What is this attributed to?  Strayer shares, in his study, that “the frontal cortex (our executive taskmaster) of the backpackers’ brains got a much-needed break”. Other recent studies show how the attention network of the brain is over stimulated for most people these days.  Just the normal course of life can have a exhausting impact on our brains with so many things/tasks begging for our attention.  Whether it be, emails, pings, texts, social media, the news, politics, responsibilities, etc…  All these things get the best of us and end with people talking about how tired they are.

What studies have shown is by freeing up the attention network, other parts of the brain are awakened.  Increased sensory perception, empathy and productivity come alive when allowed.

When we get people in the backcountry, that first day, your mind is doing a reset.  By day two, you see some people begin struggling with this detox and wanting normal back although that is overtaken by the beauty around you.  By day three, everything begins to change.  You begin noticing cloud patters, developing a more keen sense to smell and sounds; time begins to dissipate and only care about the trail and the beauty around you. 

This is not the same effect as the beach.  You can go to the beach but you are still around people and technology.  Believe me, the beach is great! My family loves it; but there is something different that occurs.  Our brains need more than a vacation effect.  Our brains need the three-day effect that only comes from time in the outdoors. 

Strayer leaves us with one last nugget.  He explains how there are specific brain waves called “theta waves” which speed up during cognitively demanding tasks.  He also communicates that those same waves slow down and become much more silent when we are out in nature and off and away from our phones.  His advice: turn your phone off and go outside!

We see this same trend in behavior in our trips. We encourage everyone to turn off their phones and to just BE.  The first 2 days is a new realization.  Sometimes that is tougher for others to “wash away whatever clinging to civilization you have brought with you”.  However, on that 3rd day, things change. 

This means that on our 3-day trips, you can achieve this “reset” or “refresh” just in time to finish up and head home.  On our 5-7 days trips, you get to EXIST in that refreshed state for a couple days and boy does it feel good.  You come back refreshed, rested and with a clear mind.  I once had a participant (a business executive) tell me that he had been mulling over how to present his strategic plan to the board for 3 weeks.  After coming back from a trip, he was able to sit down and finish his proposal in less than 3 hours.

Equipped Outdoors trips are meant to help you reset.  To teach you some new skills and build new relationships.  To learn more about yourself and to grow.  We do all this in the security of a guided backpacking trip in the backcountry of some of the most beautiful areas of the United States.  Sign up for a trip today.

Come and see for yourself.