While walking in the forest

I had been waiting a good day to take a walk in the forest. Those nice sunny days are rare in the autumn. I would have liked to take some pictures of the beautiful autumn colors because after the colors are gone, it’s quite depressing in here.

The beautiful day was here, so I took my camera with me to school. Unfortunately, after trying to focus a few hours for schoolstuff I realized that the sun was gone again. Nevertheless I took my camera and headed to the forest. I had a little flue going on so climbing even the gentlest hill
got me out of breath. As I was steading my breath I started to
observe the forest. It was a grey afternoon with a feel of rain in the air, but it wasn’t raining at the time. The forest had a little movement on it: I could hear the wind sway the trees. Some leaves were dropping and made a rustling sound after reaching the ground. I heard a woodpecker drumming a tree somewhere near. The sound of the motor road in the distant was the only thing that was out of place, spoiling just a bit of the atmosphere, but I didn’t mind.

I had made an information retrieval from the subject: “How do
sports help people under the threat of social exclusion?” and for
some reason that came into my mind. In this case positive
outcome had come through adventurous outdoor activity.
Doing sports doesn’t help as such, but especially the environment has
a great effect to the people. (Miettinen 2000, 64.)

I started wondering that if outdoor sports could help the people under the threat of social exclusion, could it help people suffering from depression or other mental problems as well? I know couple of depressed people, so this subject caught my interest.

Last of the autumn colours

The connection between sports and mental well-being is not clear. It is known that sports do improve mental well-being, but it is not quite sure how. It can be explained physically, biochemically and psychosocially (Rantonen – Lakkarinen 2008, 3) but does nature have something to do with it? Would depression be such a big problem, if people weren’t so diverged from nature?

I’m glad I still enjoy the outdoors once in a while. Being in the forest all by yourself can really lift your mood up. As I was walking towards home some people seemed to be in a hurry, rushing past me to somewhere, but I felt relaxed. It started to rain when I was almost home but instead of rushing inside, I stayed out a while: savoring the moment. By doing absolutely nothing for school, I had cleared my head and had a great idea for thesis and even for the first blog scripture.

Sources:
                        Miettinen, M. 2000. Haasteena huomisen hyvinvointi – Miten liikunta lisää mahdollisuuksia? Liikunnan yhteiskunnallinen perustelu II Tutkimuskatsaus. Liikunnan ja kansanterveyden julkaisuja 124.

                        Rantonen, K. – Laukkarinen, I. 2006. Liikunta ja mielenterveys. Mielenterveyden keskusliitto. Opas 2006. Pori. Osoitteessa: