Finding Solace in Pandemic Times
By Carolyn Payne
Solace is found on a peak at sunrise. The silence, the pristine air, and the beams of light reflecting off fresh snow melt away my anxiety. My body moves into rhythmic carving, and I feel my skis float more with each breath. Memories flow through me: my first kiss, my best and longest friendships, and my greatest sense of resilience after recovering from injury.
People often ask how I have time as a doctor-in-training to be outside. For me, the outdoors has always provided refuge and renewal. Today was no different. After a week of devastating news stories and overwhelming changes, skiing gave me a few hours where it was as if the coronavirus didn’t exist.
Skiing in Vermont: as if the coronavirus didn’t exist.
Health is not merely the absence of disease, according to the World Health Organization. I’ve been thinking about this a lot while self-isolating in Vermont. I’m alone in a small space, far away from loved ones. My neighbors blast their TVs and drink alcohol all day. The small town has limited health resources. Yet, the state is rapidly filling with affluent city dwellers retreating to their vacation homes, and I get it.
I’ve lived in dense cities. Dogs poop on sidewalks and sniff trash in the bushes. Roads are filled with angry drivers. Despite all the people, city residents seem to feel just as isolated and disconnected as those who live in rural areas. I am concerned that American cities have limited access to the outdoors, and we are significantly migrating to them.
This matters. We evolved to live outside together, but people across the nation are spending unprecedented amounts of time sitting inside alone. It is no coincidence that we are increasingly unhealthy. Americans are more obese than ever before. Close to half have at least one chronic disease. Suicide, opioid fatalities, and other “deaths of despair” are rising. Despite our country’s wealth and medical advances, American life expectancy is dropping.
A young man sitting inside alone at night.
As the pandemic changes the world as we know it, it is time for Americans to reconnect with the outdoors. Watching loved ones get sick or die and having daily life transformed by emergency orders is traumatic. I, along with many Vermonters, are finding relief in the outdoors. Other Americans should too.
Research shows that the outdoors improves health. Being in green spaces for as little as 10 minutes is associated with better mental health, including higher happiness scores. Spending time in the outdoors is also correlated with lower cortisol, stroke incidence, and mortality.
Even imagining being outside can improve your health now and after the pandemic, but nothing is better than real outdoor activity. Most of us are physically able and legally allowed to be outside. You can go alone or with your quarantine buddy, just stay in local areas and six feet from others. You can literally put your cell phone down right now and go for a walk or even a ski if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere that still has snow. Don’t tell me you don’t have time! If you commit to moving outside, you will feel less overwhelmed, down, or isolated. Your mind will be present, blood pressure will drop, and calories will burn.
Consider the stories of Phillip Stinis and Karla Amador. Phillip lost 80 pounds and healed his chronic back pain by becoming a mountaineer (without the gym). After a devastating emotional time, Karla said, “I went for a hike, and for the first time in a year and a half, I felt hope.” They shared their goal of hiking once a week for a year, which started a movement called 52 Hike Challenge. People everywhere have been putting their cell phones, stresses, and insecurities aside to climb mountains and reconnect with what it means to be human. You can join them.
Being outside will impact your identity and make you part of a community that transcends classes and borders. Amy Roberts, executive director of the Outdoor Industry Association, says, “When I talk with somebody about the outdoors…They all say, ‘I’m a skier; I’m a climber; I’m a runner.’” The outdoors creates purpose and much-needed community, motivating the pursuit of physical, mental, and social health everywhere.
If we connect with the outdoors during this pandemic, great things will happen. We will appreciate the importance of being healthy. We will be reminded that, as just one small part of the universe, we cannot control everything. Most importantly, we will be grateful for life and each other, motivating us to support and love people in our community, country, and world. We can finally act together to move away from our sedentary, materialistic “hustle culture” and even take on bigger challenges like healing our environment and limiting climate change.
As we go through one of the most devastating health crises in history, the outdoors can help. Sit by a flower, take a walk, or go for a ski. It will do wonders. Others will do the same, and America will come out of the next few months healthier and stronger because of it.
Go outside.
Carolyn Payne is an avid skier, hiker, and climber. She recently graduated as a Master of Public Health from Harvard University and an MD from University of Vermont. Carolyn will begin family medicine residency in June.
Originally published in Less Cancer Journal on Medium.com (April 4, 2020).