tricks to get outside more

So you get it: you need to get outside more, you’ve read about all of the benefits and want them for yourself, but you aren’t sure how to go about it. Here are some ideas:

1. Find a park with a trail (preferably wooded) within 15 minutes or less of your house or office. Once you commit to going to a trail/park, you become more familiar with it, you know how long it takes you to walk or run the trail, and you’re most likely to use it if it is really convenient. Use AllTrails.com and TrailLink.com to find a trail close to you.
2. At our house, we have a motto: there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. Invest in appropriate warm, cool, and wet weather gear, and then bad weather isn’t as much of an excuse to skip getting outside. Here is some of our favorite gear:
   • A good rain jacket. Grant has this and loves it. I have an old Helly Hansen jacket that is at least twenty years old and still going strong. I keep an eye out at Goodwill for the kids because they grow out of them so fast.
   • I have these rain boots that I love. Everybody in our family has a pair of tall rain boots. I usually get the kids’ pairs from WalMart or Target, but Grant I love the Kamik brand. No body wants to get their favorite shoes muddy, so having some tall rain boots that you don’t mind getting muddy means you’re far more likely to get outside.
   • A good winter coat that blocks the wind is a lifesaver. Grant and I both have older North Face coats that we’ve had for years. Obviously, hats and gloves are must-haves for the cold winter months. I also buy the kids long underwear every fall (the 32 Degrees brand from Costco). They use them as jammies, but then also layer them on the really cold winter days.
   • I bought these trail runners a few years ago and live in them for all but the most strenuous hiking. On trails around home, I try to wear as minimalist of shoes as possible, unless it is really muddy and/or cold.
   • Other tips: I prefer to buy coats with hoods, so that I can easily add some warmth if needed. I also prefer jackets with zippered pockets, so that my stuff doesn’t spew out all over the trail.
3. Take a lightweight ball or football on your hikes. The kids make up games with the ball along the hike, or we all just throw it back-and-forth throughout the hike, which makes the time go faster for them and gives them something else to do.
4. Take binoculars. We’re very beginner birders, so we take a little book (we have this one) along too. Jasper actually has a really good eye for birds, so he usually spots something interesting – and then we can all follow up with the binoculars to get a closer look.
5. Create a challenge. Sometimes, Grant will come up with a question or a challenge at the beginning of the hike. Some examples:
   • Find something you haven’t seen before (this is especially a good one on your go-to hike that you’ve all done lots of times).
   • Find three things in creation that you’re thankful for to share on our way home.
   • Play the question game, where everyone has to come up with a good question for everyone else to answer. Rotate through.
   • Come up with something to look for based on what season it is – like a create-your-own scavenger hunt (some ideas: a certain tree, plant, bird, etc.).
6. Get a dog. Or better yet, get some chickens. They force you to get outside and give you eggs. #winning
7. Find an outdoor hobby. Birding, hiking, kayaking, paddle boarding, cycling, foraging, fishing, trail running, gardening, backpacking. Find your own (as a bonus, most outdoor hobbies are really inexpensive except for possibly an initial investment in equipment).
8. Plant a garden. You’ll have a reason to get outside every day during the season, plus it will:
   • give you the best food you’ve ever tasted
   • provide you far more nutrition than the food from the grocery store, and
   • as a nice side bonus, the garden will teach you every great spiritual lesson if you let it
9. Tell yourself just to go outside for five minutes. In all likelihood, you’ll stay out there longer, but even five minutes has amazing benefits.
10. I’m usually not a fan of telling people to buy more stuff, but I think buying things for yourself and your kids that make you want to spend more time outside is a good use of money. We have the following:
    • A ninja course (all of us use it, but none of us can make it all the way across)
    • A big platform swing (I probably use this more than the kids)
    • Hammocks (Grant and I have Enos, but we bought the kids their own at Costco for hiking and camping trips. It seems like they usually have them on sale in the springtime).
    • Slack lines
    • Gymnastic rings
    • A trapeze that we hang on a tree branch. Admittedly, really only the kids use this because the one time I tried it didn’t end well.
11. In addition to some of the things above, we have also used some stuff around the yard to create our own fun:
    • We used old stumps in a circle to (eventually) create the border for our herb garden, but in the meantime, we have contests to see who can make it all the way around the most times without stepping on the ground. Things get surprisingly intense.
    • We use 2x4s leftover from our deck project to make balance beams.
12. Start a grounding practice. Earthing is the practice of reconnecting directly with the earth with our bodies. Going barefoot on the grass/soil is the simplest way to do this, and it has enormous mental and physical benefits. Most of us can easily go an entire week without physically connecting with the earth (we stay indoors, wear rubber-soled shoes, etc.). Even if you think earthing is a little woo-woo, a grounding practice is a form of mindfulness that helps center us and triggers our parasympathetic response – something all of us need every day. There are ways to ground yourself without stepping outside, but I find getting my bare-feet on the ground the most sure-fire way to almost immediately feel more grounded and secure.
13. Challenge yourself to take a picture of the natural world at least once a day. If you need some extra accountability, post about your challenge on social media and create your own hashtag, so you can easily invite others to participate. You could decide to take different pictures every day, or perhaps take the same scene every day and notice the differences. I love this practice especially for sunsets or sunrises.
14. Pay attention to the lunar cycles and soak up the moonlight. There is so much out there to read about the wisdom of the lunar cycle, so once you start paying attention to what the moon is up to, there is endless and ancient wisdom about what we can learn from the moon’s phases. In fact, we get a chance to live the lunar seasons every month, so it is another way to #liveseasonally. Tip: I added the lunar cycles to my calendar on my phone, so I can keep track of what she is up to even if I haven’t been outside for a few nights.
15. Ride your bike to places you frequent. Figure out a safe way to get there and commit to riding there as much as possible. We do this with the farmers markets, favorite restaurants, parks, church, the grocery store. We have safe ways to get to those places and commit to riding there as much as possible. After you’ve done it a few times, you know how long it takes and can ahead for it.
16. I LOVE efficiency, so I like to incorporate movement outside into something I want to do anyway to accomplish that kill-two-birds-with-one-stone feeling (I LOVE that feeling, don’t you? Or am I just a weirdo?!). This looks like going for a run outside so that I can cross three things off my to-do list at once: 1) get outside every day for some nature therapy 2) get a workout in 3) listen to a podcast or audio-book along the way. Or it might be meeting a friend for a hike instead of coffee, so I can cross off 1) movement 2) nature therapy and 3) catching up with a friend. Crossing multiple things off at a time is one of my favorite things. I’m sure that is something that I should do some more digging into, but oh well…
17. Go camping. I know camping isn’t everybody’s thing, but studies are showing that we are really missing out by not getting longer stretches immersed in nature. We notice that time seems to slow down when we go camping. We’re able to be more present with each other, and we return to “real life” feeling truly rejuvenated.
18. At home or work, instead of taking a break to check social media or watch something, try taking a nature break instead. Choose a time to each day to connect with nature. Maybe enjoying your morning coffee outside more often, or taking a five minute walking break at work a few times a day.
19. Take your work or hobby outside. My most favorite thing to do is to bring a book and some snacks on a hike, and then reward myself with a long break reading at a good stopping place along the way. I also love working on our screened-in porch – using the fan when it’s hot, and adding some layers when it’s cold. We meet friends that live over an hour away at a park halfway in between, so we hike together and catch up, and then grab dinner together afterwards. Take something you already have to do or enjoy doing – and find a way to take it outside.
20. Find a special place outside – a tree, a flower, a spot of grass in the shade – that is yours. Mine is the garden, but I also have a favorite tree that I like to sit under. One of the things that I personally need to consistently work on is to notice and sit with what is coming up for me instead of numbing or ignoring uncomfortable feelings with activity and distraction. Having a special place outside just for me helps give me a place where I can go and be present with my emotions. But even if you don’t have that problem yourself, there is something special and life-giving about a place outside to practice being present. Jasper sits with the chickens when he needs that space, Maeve likes to sit in the shade or swing, Grant heads outback to “his” hugelkultur.”
21. Create a game with your family that you can only do “fill-in-the-blank” if you ride or walk there/first. We do this with a few of our favorite local restaurants. For example:
    
    “We can go to Rail for dinner tonight IF we ride our bikes there;”
    “We can watch a movie tonight IF we go on a hike first;”
    “You can have some screen time IF you play frisbee outside with me first.”
    
22. Sign up for an outdoor sport or activity – the more trees and natural environment, the better. Our kids are in the thick of soccer season, so I try to find the place closest to the trees (if possible) to sit, and I like to sit on the ground to get a little earthing energy while I’m at it.
23. Start new traditions. At our house, Friday nights that we don’t have plans are for getting outside together. We like to go on a bike ride or a hike, or typically, play a big game of Frisbee. Here are some more fun ideas to get you brainstorming.
24. Explore your state parks. Every year, our family gift for Christmas is a state park pass. It’s an easy way to support the parks and encourages us to get to more state parks throughout the year since we already paid for it.
25. Find a “water spot” within ten minutes of your house is possible where you can go to play in the water or even just to look at it. We bought our kids fishing nets when they were little and spent countless hours at a few local parks with creeks/rivers that they would try to catch crawdads and other creatures. Even just watching the water has restorative effects, so finding your go-to spot will pay dividends later on.

We can’t name all that is going on when we get out in nature – much of it is a mystery, but we have enough science and experiential knowledge to know that getting outside everyday is incredibly beneficial to our physical, psychological, and spiritual health. Hopefully this list helps you think about more ways to incorporate more time in nature into your daily life. I’m sure I’ve missed tons of ideas, so please add yours in the comments! I’ll keep adding to this list as I hear new ideas.