By Mara Scallon, communications graduate assistant in the Sustainability Office

Of the holiday songs I know, there is not (yet) a song written especially for members of collegiate communities that celebrates the end of the semester and the start of winter break. If there were, the song might include a line or two about the amount of time we all spend on the computer. This is especially true with the year-end and semester-end deadlines, virtual meetings due to weather and illness and the inevitable researching and shopping for holiday gifts.

A great way to address the semester-end hunching over your computer is to adjust your posture as you read this sentence (you’re welcome!) and consider venturing outside for a 20-minute break. You may protest, “But this paper is due tomorrow and it isn’t going to write itself!” Or, “This spreadsheet must be sent today!” Or, “These online deals on trail running gear will vanish!” With all of these urgent concerns, it seems foolish to trot outside for a break shorter than the newest episode of Dune: Prophecy. However, you will find the benefits of going outside extend far beyond the time actually spent out-of-doors; your eyes, brain and body systems and productivity will all thank you—let’s find out why. During this blog post, we are going to journey into the eyeball, reimagine our bedtime routines and forest bathe.

Eyes

Our eyes are more than just the windows to our souls. They are the organs that make sight possible. Simply put, for many of us light enters the eye through its clear surface and passes through the pupil (that black dot in the middle of our eye) to the inner eye. The colored ring outside the pupil is called the iris, and it is a muscle that contracts or expands to let more or less light into the inner eye. Inside the eye, a transparent lens focuses light onto the retina at the back of the eye, where the light energy is converted into a nerve signal that can be transported to and interpreted by the brain.

When we look at something up close, such as a snack of Cheez-Its or the screen of our phone, our eyeballs lengthen to bring the object into focus. Constantly focusing on something close to our eyes contributes to eye strain and tiredness, and we often blink a lot less when we focus intently on something. In my case, I end long days on the computer with red, dry eyes.

Lengthening our eyeballs for long periods of time can cause myopia, or nearsightedness, which causes distant objects to appear blurry. Myopia rates in children have reached “epidemic” proportions, according to the American Academy of Optometry and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Yet current children are not the only ones to suffer from increased rates of myopia. More than half of American young adults the condition, and these increases are a result of more screen use and less time spent outdoors in childhood. Though myopia can be corrected with prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses, spending more time outside can help people of all ages to reduce eye strain.

Screens are everywhere now, from smartphones, watches and tablets to computers, car dashboards and televisions. Using any of these screens for prolonged periods of time can strain human eyes, especially when used for multiple hours each day, and most of us use multiple screens at once! (I have a laptop and desktop screen next to one another, my phone is face-up on the desk in front of me, and my smart watch encircles my left wrist.) To address the concerns about eye strain and myopia, the obvious and impractical solution is to get rid of all of the screens, but this doesn’t account for the educational, economic and social needs and realities of life in the 21st century.

However, reducing screen time is certainly possible, and there are creative ways to do that: my favorite is to brainstorm outlines and draft papers by using voice notes on my phone with voice-to-text technology (usually while walking outside!), and when that doesn’t do the trick, I physically write my papers using fun, glittery gel pens (also outside, weather allowing). Interrupting screen time can help to reduce eye strain as well, especially when using the 20-20-20 rule, where every 20 minutes you look at a distance 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This will help your eye muscles relax and you’ll blink more, which will soothe your eyes and help you avoid dry, unhappy, red eyes at the end of the day.

A more interesting way to stare at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds or more is to go outside! Leave the screens behind and go for a walk, sit on a bench or visit a garden outside your building. Children benefit from at least two hours outside each day, but adults of all ages need time outdoors, as the combination of looking further away from “near work” and seeing sunlight benefits everyone. Physical exercise outdoors is the dream for most eyeballs since you’ll look at things near and far, absorb vitamin D and be in a bright setting, thereby making for healthier eyes.

Brain & body systems

Our brains require a lot of energy to operate, and I think this is a reasonable trade for the incredible conscious and subconscious things that my brain does each and every day. I find that one of the best ways to aid my brain in being as healthy and helpful as it can be is to—you guessed it—spend some time outdoors and off my phone and computer. Doing so can help my brain tune into the rhythms of natural light, which I find helps me regulate my sleeping and waking cycles. Bright sunlight can also boost our mood and alertness during the day, and I find that an early-morning run helps me avoid screens in the first hour of being awake while (usually) giving me time in the sun to help my sleepy brain wake up and get ready for the day.

Later on, particularly after spending lots of time indoors, another walk or venture outdoors helps reorient my brain and body to the day’s progression. In today’s world, we have artificial lights in nearly every building and public space in which we spend time, so if I don’t go outdoors into natural light, my body can think it is later or earlier than it actually is. I’m sure we’ve all experienced this!  Getting a midday blast of bright sunlight or a day’s-end glimpse of twilight can synchronize my body’s production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates the body’s daily cycle (called its circadian rhythm). Having grown up and lived in New England for much of my life, I find this to be especially important during the long nights of late fall and winter, and I know getting outside each day has already helped me adjust to Utah’s own late-fall darkness.

As exposure to sunlight influences melatonin production, the blue light found in artificial lighting and screens can do the same. Blue light mimics bright sunlight, so our bodies slow down the production of melatonin, making us less likely to feel sleepy. Plus, our eyeballs don’t receive the same benefits they would from actual sunlight. I am a grumpy zombie if I don’t have a good, full night’s sleep, so I intentionally don’t use screens for an hour before going to bed, giving my body time to produce melatonin and ease into sleep-mode. It was really hard to train myself to put my phone down for an hour before bed, but I now find myself looking forward to my hour of meditation, reading a physical book and/or stretching before I turn off the lights.

To feel our best, we know that getting a good night’s sleep is important, but we also know that physical exercise is just as important. Scientists have repeatedly proven that physical activity is necessary for good mental, physical and emotional health. Scientists are beginning to better understand that there are many benefits associated with being outdoors without being super active. One way to do this is by engaging in “forest bathing,” which is based on a Japanese practice known as “Shinrin-Yoku.” To forest bathe, a person uses mindful walks through ancient woodland to reduce their stress and anxiety.

I am greatly simplifying the process of forest bathing, a centuries-old practice that has more recently gained relevance in our world of a million screens, and I encourage curious readers to seek out more on this exercise. A modified version of forest bathing has been seen as a low-cost, high-reward therapeutic activity in which most people can engage. Many of us lack access to “ancient woodlands” but many of us do have some sort of access to outdoor space. Going to that space and spending mindful, screen-free time thinking and being present within that space can be as simple as sitting in Red Butte Garden (free with your UCard!), walking slowly through Liberty Park’s many trees (including pines, ashes, cottonwoods and elms), or finding a quiet creek to sit beside (hello, Red Butte Creek!). Importantly, forest bathing is not an active process—participants should not be running, playing sports or walking the dog during this time. Instead, intentional reflection and mindful quiet are the objective.

This blog series began out of my personal desire to establish a modified forest bathing routine for myself on campus. When I am next to Red Butte Creek, I am intentionally observing the space and jotting down notes. I am usually sitting and looking around, alert and curious and seeing more than I anticipated. On my recent visit to my spot beside Red Butte Creek, I sat there for about an hour on November 21, around midday. A defensive fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) chattered ceaselessly at me from its safe perch in a high tree branch situated about twenty feet above the creek’s surface. Many of the leaves were still attached to the trees and shrubs at the site, ranging in color from a lively green to a crunchy brown, with all number of yellows in between. Oaks and box elders still clung to their leaves, but the bright yellow leaves of maples and willows had fallen and carpeted the ground. Much of my time at the site was spent listening to and watching the flowing water of the creek, and I found myself entering a meditative state when doing so. I zoned out and was not thinking about anything work- or class-related, which allowed me to observe the familiar site in a new way.

Below, an audio clip of the flowing water of Red Butte Creek, with the scolding of the fox squirrel audible beginning at 0:16.

 

Data from my smart watch later showed that the hour I spent at the site had a measurable impact on me, and the watch declared that I was more relaxed for that hour than I had been before and after my creekside visit. This makes sense because my body would have been tense or alert during my walk alongside the traffic on Chipeta Way. My watch could tell I was more relaxed in the middle of my workday when I was near Red Butte Creek, but I also recognized and noted some of these changes in my on-site journal entry: a clearer mind, slower and deeper breaths, a steady heart rate and a calmness from listening to flowing water.

Scientists are increasingly interested in the plants in places like Red Butte Creek because they contain a specific compound called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are chemical compounds that are produced both by plants and by human-made products like paints. Plants use VOCs in a few different ways, like defending against insects, attracting pollinators and communicating with other plants. Recent research is showing that humans may benefit from those plant VOCs when we spend time outdoors, and they may positively affect our bodies by helping to boost our immune systems, reduce blood pressure, decrease inflammation and improve mental clarity and mood. While I was happily listening to the flowing of Red Butte Creek, I was breathing in VOCs that may have been helping to put me into an even better mood while also making my body healthier.

Below, an audio clip of Red Butte Creek gurgling.

Productivity

Students and professionals alike can fear blank Word doc pages and its evil twin, the blinking cursor of doom. Mental blocks or other distractions may prevent anybody from writing, and while starting a paper or article can be intimidating, sometimes we lose steam later in the process. When I face this problem—and it happens more often than I’d care to admit— I do one of three things: I stare at the screen and hope the paper will write itself, I procrastinate by typing random characters using the keyboard (I’m looking at you, « ß Â § è W Ñ Ö · µ), or I head outside for a break. Sometimes, the latter takes the form of a short run, a bike ride or a neighborhood wander. Other times, it’s an entire day of skiing, hiking or birdwatching. Every time, I find it gives my brain and attitude a good reset.

Walking away from a project for a little time outside allows me to think about the project in the background (or even subconsciously) while I’m having fun, discovering my neighborhood or spending time with loved ones. Even with deadlines looming, if I find my mind wandering and I can’t focus, a 30-minute walk outside can be enough to help get me back on track, often with a new bit of energy or inspiration. Many influential authors and thinkers have long used a walk as an opportunity to think, solve a problem and allow their minds to wander, with fruitful and creative results. (You can check out Rebecca Solnit’s Wanderlust for a detailed exploration of this history.) Not all time outdoors needs to be active—minds can wander delightfully as one sits underneath a tree, putters around in a garden or watches clouds passing overhead from the porch—but the time outdoors will be more beneficial and provide more of a reset if there are no screens involved, even if that means taking the earbuds out or saving the phone call for later.

Anyone who knows me well is not surprised to know I am advocating for more time spent offline, and more time spent outdoors. For those just getting to know me (hi!), this serves as a bit of a spoiler for a theme that will appear in my future blog posts. I hope this brief exploration of the diverse health, mental and professional benefits associated with spending time outdoors inspires you to evaluate your own practices and try some of the things I’ve suggested. The long nights of winter are upon us, and I do not know your workload or other challenges, but I am sure you can find one outdoor space in which to linger or explore, even if you go just once a week. When I am on campus and in need of a break, you can find me alongside Red Butte Creek. If I am not there, I am integrating some of these ideas introduced here in my day-to-day and double-checking my posture (you’re welcome!).

 

Have you finished this blog post and are now wondering how I put some of these practices into play?

1. I developed the outline while on a six-mile trail run.
2. I interrupted the “eye” section several times to do some laundry, pack away a dried tent and walk around outside in hopes of finding the neighborhood quail family (Callipepla californica; no luck finding them). Writing this section had me imagining lots of eye strain, so don’t worry if you felt the same while reading it.
3. I visited Red Butte Creek during a stressful day and practiced breathing deeply while listening to the water flowing.
4. I wrote the productivity section after a half-day spent watching sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) feeding near Utah Lake and after I had a quick soak in a hot spring.
   1. However, I did also type the following: « ß Â § è W Ñ Ö · µ
5. I wrote the brain and body systems section using voice-to-text technology embedded within Apple’s Notes app on my phone while I paced up and down my driveway at twilight.

 

Works consulted:

Blue light has a dark side. (2012, April 17). Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side

Brodkey, F. D. (2022, July 21). Sense of sight. MedLine Plus Medical Encyclopedia. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/imagepages/8687.htm

Godoy, M. (Director). (2024, September 17). Want to protect your kids’ eyes from myopia? Get them to play outside [Broadcast]. In Morning Edition. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/13/1250555639/kids-eyesight-myopia-near-sighted-nearsightedness-outdoor-play

Li, Q. (2010). Effect of forest bathing trips on human immune function. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 15(1), 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-008-0068-3

Lingham, G., Mackey, D. A., Lucas, R., & Seyhan, Y. (2020). How does spending time outdoors protect against myopia? A review. British Journal of Ophthalmology, 104(5). https://doi.org/10.1136/bjophthalmol-2019-314675

Popescu, A. (2021, November 14). Why staring at screens is making your eyeballs elongate – and how to stop it. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/14/eyeballs-screens-vision-nearsightedness-myopia

Solnit, R. (2001). Wanderlust: A history of walking. Penguin Books.

Using the COROS HRV Index (replaced by Wellness Check). (2024, October 24). COROS Help Center. https://support.coros.com/hc/en-us/articles/4405739040276-Using-the-COROS-HRV-Index-replaced-by-Wellness-Check

Vivaldo, G., Masi, E., Taiti, C., Caldarelli, G., & Mancuso, S. (2017). The network of plants volatile organic compounds. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 11050. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-10975-x

Zhou, Q., Wang, J., Wu, Q., Chen, Z., & Wang, G. (2021). Seasonal dynamics of VOCs released from Cinnamomun camphora forests and the associated adjuvant therapy for geriatric hypertension. Industrial Crops and Products, 174, 114131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2021.114131