But Have You Tried Touching Grass? Why Getting Outside Matters for Your Mental Health

Supporting your mental health and regulating your nervous system can start with something simple. Getting outside is not a cure-all or a substitute for therapy, but stepping outdoors can be one small way to care for yourself and give your nervous system a chance to decompress.

Written By: Julie Jensen, LMFT

Why Going Outside Connects to Self-Care and More

The first time I meet a client, I always ask the same question: “Do you get outside?”

It might sound simple, but nervous system regulation, the benefits of being outside, and the connection between mental health, the outdoors, and nature are things I think about often in my work.

Some other questions I ask my clients often include:

• Are you drinking water?
• Are you eating something nourishing?
• Do you get movement during the day?
• How much are you sleeping?
• Do you go outside? Have you touched grass recently?

I ask these questions with a bit of humor because I’m not looking to shame anyone. On the other hand, I really want to know how you take care of yourself and if your basic needs are getting met.

Getting outside is one of them. And it’s one thing that we often neglect.

Life gets busy, and these basics fall by the wayside. If we DO get outside or have a little bit more water to drink, we don’t always notice the difference. Over time, motivation goes down if we don’t feel the immediate benefit.

I’m here to say it does matter. Here’s why.

Getting Outside and Nervous System Regulation

Just a few minutes a day can help you decompress after a long day at work or help you get started at the beginning of the day. It can help you mid-day when you need a break from work, too.

Importantly, getting outside doesn’t have to mean going on a long hike or doing anything elaborate. It can mean just stepping outside for a few minutes and noticing what’s around you.

Natural Bilateral Stimulation

Also, walking outside provides natural bilateral stimulation, engaging both sides of the body through the alternating rhythm of walking. That rhythmic movement can feel soothing to the nervous system.

A note: This is not a substitute for EMDR with a trained, licensed professional, though bilateral stimulation is one element used within EMDR therapy.

Expanding Your Window of Tolerance

Of course, we live in Wisconsin, so if you go outside every day of the year, you will experience the heat, rain, snow, cold, bugs, and maybe even wildfire smoke.

By going outside regularly, you learn to tolerate a little bit of discomfort. The more you go out, the less uncomfortable it will become. You might even start to look forward to it.

Over time, you might just become a bit more tolerant of discomfort in other areas of your life, too.

Give Your Nervous System a Break From Overstimulation

Touch some grass. Take a deep breath. Smell the flowers.

Try ditching your headphones and listening to the birds and the wind blowing in the trees.

One of HEART Counseling’s therapists, Elise Reichle, SWTC, often recommends her clients try the app Merlin, which is run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

I love the Merlin app and often recommend it to my clients as a way to encourage them to get outside and practice mindfulness. Not only is it completely free, but it helps you identify the birds around you while using multiple senses. You can record the sounds around you and it will identify birds based on their chirps and calls, you can take a photo and upload it to the app for help with identification, or you can answer a series of questions about a bird you saw, including approximate size, color(s), and what it was doing (like flying, sitting in the tress, hopping along the ground, etc.) and it will show you different options of birds to choose from. Plus, it feels entertaining because you learn a lot about what is around you. Plus, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology uses user-submitted data and recordings to continue to research birds, so you can know that you are helping research that benefits the birds themselves!

Elise also recommends a short walk around the UW Arboretum as an easy way to wander through the outdoors in a calming and quiet environment.

However, you don’t have to turn the experience outside into another thing to accomplish. You can also just take time to notice what it feels like to be outside for a few minutes.

Small Ways of Taking Care of Yourself Matter

Over time, as this becomes your daily routine, things might start to shift in subtle ways.

Eventually, you might turn into someone who actually looks forward to going outside. You may decide to walk for 15 minutes instead of 10. You may miss the days that you don’t get outside.

When we make a concerted effort to take care of ourselves in these small ways, we remind ourselves how important it is to take care of ourselves, because we matter.

Want to Learn More? A Few of My Favorite Resources.

If you’re curious about the connection between getting outside and our mental health, here are a few resources I recommend. You don’t have to become an outdoors person overnight. These are just good places to learn more about why spending time outside matters.

Podcasts to listen to:

• How Nature Heals Us, Hidden Brain: A conversation about the science behind why spending time in nature can affect our mood, attention, and minds.
• Why Spending Time in the Woods Makes You Feel Calm, NPR: A closer look at why being among trees and other natural surroundings can feel calming.
• Why the 5-Minute Walk Break Is So Powerful, NPR Life Kit: A helpful reminder that getting outside or adding movement to your day doesn’t have to be a big undertaking.

Articles and books:

• The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, by Florence Williams: A deeper dive into research on the ways time in nature may influence our health, mood, and creativity.
• A Walk in the Woods May Boost Mental Health, Harvard Medicine Magazine: An accessible overview of research exploring the relationship between green space and mental health.

I hope that one of these inspires you to take the podcast outside, go for a five-minute walk, or simply sit somewhere with a little more grass and a few more trees.

About the Author: Julie Jensen, LMFT, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at HEART Counseling in Madison, Wisconsin. She uses a trauma-informed, strengths-based approach and a blend of warmth, calm, and humor, in her work with clients. Julie supports both teens and adults who are navigating trauma, anxiety, life transitions, grief, and family challenges.

References

Hidden Brain Staff. (2025, November 3). How nature heals us [Audio podcast episode]. Hidden Brain. Hidden Brain episode

McDonough, M. (2023, Summer). A walk in the woods may boost mental health. Harvard Medicine Magazine. Harvard Medicine Magazine article

Williams, F. (2017). The nature fix: Why nature makes us happier, healthier, and more creative. W. W. Norton & Company.

National Public Radio. (2026, June 1). Why spending time in the woods makes you feel calm [Audio podcast segment]. NPR. NPR resource

National Public Radio. Why the 5-minute walk break is so powerful [Audio podcast episode]. Life Kit. NPR. NPR Life Kit