How Nature Aids the Healing Journey

Hey there, lifter uppers. I'm Deb Krier, the co-host of Cancer and Comedy, where our mission is to heal cancer-impacted people through hope and humor, something we like to call turning the grim into a grin. Today on Cancer and Comedy, we're going to be talking about the healing power of connecting with nature as part of the healing process. Now, here's the host of Cancer and Comedy, Dr. Brad Miller.

Hey, thank you, Deb. Good to be connected with you, too. Today, here on the podcast where we look to, indeed, as you mentioned, turn the grim of cancer and that kind of depressing parts about that, and turn that around to have a celebration of life of what is possible. We like to call that turning the grim into a grin. It's all about developing a community that's based on hope and humor that helps people facing cancer or other debilitating types of diseases to cope with hope. We hope people will get connected to us in our Cancer and Comedy community by going to cancerandcomedy.com/follow. But hey, Deb, one of the things we always like to do here in Cancer and Comedy is we like to have some fun. So how about a couple of dad jokes with a little bit of a nature theme here today? You ready for it?

I love it. I can't wait.

Well, what do you get when you cross a cow with an earthquake?

I have no idea.

It's a milkshake. Come on.

Cute. Cute.

One more. This is good. This is kind of a little more exotic. Why do zebras have stripes?

I don't know.

So they won't get spotted.

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Well, folks, you're not going to believe it, but following the interview, you definitely want to stick around because we will have another Dr. Brad's Bad Joke of the Day. But of course, we have our very important Faith It or Break It segment. We would love for you to be part of the Cancer and Comedy community where together we crush cancer with a message of how to cope with hope and humor. Please follow Cancer and Comedy at cancerandcomedy.com/follow. Well, as Brad said, today, we're going to be talking about how connecting with nature can be a very important part of the healing process. Brad, you just got back from a trip where you did quite a bit of connecting with nature. Tell us a little bit more about your adventures.

I'll be glad to do it, Deb. You and I were just in our pre-conversation talking a little bit about the trip that I went on and where you are from, actually. That's the mountains, right? My wife, the mountains, the red mountains, the Rocky Mountains in your area. And I live in Indiana, where it's mostly cornfields. We have hills around here and lots of trees but nothing like the Rocky Mountains. We drove from Indiana to Portland, Oregon, where my son lives and graduated from grad school with a degree in architecture. We spent some time with him, but we went out to see the ocean and saw these great massive rock formations out in the Pacific Ocean. There's a name for them. I can't remember the technical name, but I'm wondering. Rocks in the ocean. Big rocks in the ocean. Beautiful, fantastic. And then we saw waterfalls in Oregon and some great things there. We did a kind of a tour. We drove 7000 miles altogether, so we did a tour of the western United States. We went up to Washington to the Cascade National Park. Just fantastic. A beautiful place. There is this incredible crystal, I must say crystal blue lake, but it was more like a sapphire color. Just a fantastic lake there in Cascade National Park. We went over to Glacier National Park in Montana, which was one of the more spectacular sights I've ever seen. Actually driving up the mountain and being able to touch and get right there where glaciers are actually at. Just the rare air and the beauty of the mountains was spectacular. Then we went out into North Dakota, South Dakota to the Badlands and saw lots of buffalo and elk and all kinds of things like that. Custer State Park in South Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt Park in North Dakota. Those kinds of things. We landed in Rocky Mountain National Park, which is near where you grew up, and just had a spectacular time there driving up in the mountains and doing some hikes. My wife likes to hike, and I like to hike as well. We did some nature hikes. We had beautiful weather most of the time. We saw some elk in nature and some fantastic things. We also went to Devil's Tower in Wyoming, which is spectacular. It reminded me of the Close Encounters movie. Remember that? Oh, yes, the aliens and so on. But the idea here was just that the scenery was spectacular. The air was clean. The drive was great. In many ways, it was a little scary at times. It could be on these windy mountain roads. It's a long way down, and oh yeah, in some way. I mean, sheer cliffs and all kinds of stuff. But it was spectacular to be in nature for a little bit, to experience it, and kind of refreshing and exhilarating. It reminded me of some of the things that we talked about here and how we got to get our mindset around things and help us to deal with cancer and other bad things that happen in our life. I don't know, that's the part of the world you're from. Tell me a little bit about growing up in the Rocky Mountains and how nature was a part of your experience

Well, you know, I did. I grew up in this tiny little town called Walden. It's in North Park in Colorado. There's North Park, Middle Park, South Park. Yes, there is a real South Park. That's where the two gentlemen who do the South Park cartoon are from. So I grew up at an elevation of over 8000 feet. As I said, you know,

Is North Park somewhere near the Continental Divide?

Yes, the Continental Divide went through our area. North Park is pretty much dead center of the state, very in the very northern part, very close to Wyoming. Actually, it is up against the Wyoming border. It was incredible there because we were completely surrounded by mountains. You had to go over a mountain pass to get out. There were times of the year where you didn't leave. The scenery, I've been to all parts of the glacier, as you mentioned, absolutely spectacular, Yellowstone, all those places are so pretty, but Walden is still like that. Now, Walden is kind of out in the middle of the sagebrush, but all of the area around it is just so fantastic. It was really funny. When we moved here to Atlanta, our realtor said, we have mountains in Georgia. I said, no, no, no. We do have mountains in north Georgia. She said, no, we ski. I said, honey, I grew up at an elevation of over 8000 feet very near Steamboat Springs. Whatever you have here are not mountains, and it's not skiing. You definitely learn to rely on yourself. The closest major grocery store was 65 miles away, and still is. They have kept it very remote, very rural. Now the closest medical people are an hour away in another state. You have to go to Wyoming for medical treatment up there. We learned to depend on ourselves. You absolutely had to. We kind of had that pioneer spirit and they still do, the people who are there.

I love that. It just felt like that was part of your DNA, part of who you are, was the appreciation of it. It was a fabulous appreciation of nature, that independent spirit. I also get a sense of what you're saying here, Deb, kind of the integration, not a date, if it is spirit is here with the integration with the natural order of things on nature and integrating with that as a part of the process. I think what we're going to talk about here a little bit is how this integration of nature into our lives can be an important factor in how we deal and cope with cancer or other bad things that happen in your life. If we stay cooped up in some isolated environment, that's not going to be helpful. I know we did some reading and research on this here as well. I'm fortunate. I think there were studies on just not only in medical situations but in work situations. People who have an office or hospital room with a window that looks outside tend to do better in many regards than those who have just fluorescent lighting above their head. That's all they have. I think about my mother-in-law's view from her apartment in the retirement village that she lives in. It basically looks out on the roof of another building. But still, sunlight gets in.

You can see when there's rain, when there's darkness, all of those things.

Same place with my mother. She has a tree outside her window, and she loves to see the change of seasons by the single tree outside her window. Can you just say a little bit about how you think, either in your own experience or how your spirits have shared, how nature plays a part, and how people deal and cope with bad things, cancer, and other bad things in life?

Well, I think first of all, you mentioned it, fresh air. We need fresh air and sunshine. Our bodies need that. It helps us to heal, it helps our immune system, all of these things. Unfortunately, when we're sick, we get in these cooped up sterile environments that they have to keep that way. It's safe. But at the same point, we need that. A lot of times I will find that I am literally craving outdoors. I will go no, no. I grew up in that environment. I need to go out and sit with the trees and listen to the birds. I think in many cases, a lot of times what it does is it puts things back in perspective. When we're out there communing with nature, it really does help to refocus what our priorities are. I know it's different for people who grew up in a city environment and didn't really have that, but they still take walks. They have windows, all of those things. Like you said, we need that in order to kind of feel whole. There's also the spiritual aspects of being out there and just seeing what God created and seeing how beautiful it is.

I know city planners often talk about the importance of having green space in urban environments. I was a pastor in an urban environment, and we had just a little patch of grass, just a small yard in this big huge building. We used that little patch of grass as much as we could when we had children's events and what have you. I know parks and things like that are so important for people to get connected to that effect.

We bring nature in because we have potted plants, we have flowers, we have all of those things that we bring inside to kind of make the inside have more nature.

What's a common gift people get when they're sick? It's flowers, right? It's flowers to bring a little color, right? A little something alive in your life, into your presence, and that kind of thing. One of the people we studied talked a little bit about forest bathing, which you might remember that term a little bit. But basically how you sometimes just need a time when you just kind of hit forest bathing, kind of mean, kind of just get lost in the woods. So to just go in and take in the environment. My wife and I like to take walks and hikes, and it's, you know, put on the hiking boots and the whole bit, and go out there and long hikes. There's something very cool about that, being kind of lost in nature. I think it's important if you're able to, and your medical situation allows, to get out there and do that, where you just kind of turn off the phone and all that stuff, and just commune, as it were, with nature. I think that's an important thing to do.

One of the things that also comes into play here is that when you get connected to nature, you are almost encouraged to be in an environment where movement takes place, right, being engaged. If you can go to a park, I'm sure you've seen and appreciate it. Even in some of the national parks I was in, where there are some pretty rigorous trails and hikes, they still have these areas designed for people in wheelchairs and other conditions to go and at least be engaged, you know, to a certain level and be there. I think that's a cool thing.

It is. It's hard to feel down when you're out in nature. Anyhow, that's my experience. I can be grumpy, and I go outside, and I hear the birds, and I see maybe little kids playing, all of these things. It is a mood enhancer. Even if it's stormy weather or things like that, there's still something about it.

There's even medical evidence that this comes into play here. The therapeutic benefits of nature are there. Sunlight is there. That's one thing, vitamin D, you know, getting that in. I've known a couple of people who've lived in Alaska, and you know, they have to deal with the season of light, which is light all the time, and the season of darkness. There's a whole system up there of places to go where they have certain types of lighting, which is more vitamin D-oriented, that kind of thing. They have to be very intentional about light because there is, oh, I forgot the name of the disorder. You probably know it.

Yeah, where your sleep cycle gets messed up.

Yeah, there's that, but it's also the seasonal disorder.

Seasonal disorder, yes.

Where your body clock gets messed up. People get more depressed in the winter and things like that. It boosts the immune system. We can do that. People also get involved with active things. You mentioned plants. Some people like to bring nature indoors, whether it's dealing with houseplants or gardening. Some people do gardening and things of that nature to get their hands dirty, a little bit of getting engaged. Very therapeutic, don't you think?

Oh, definitely.

It isn't initially, and we know that part of the health things people go through is to reduce stress and to get proper sleep. If you get on YouTube and other places, a lot of things that de-stress you - the videos and audios and things like that - are nature sounds to help you sleep. When I was at some of the fantastic rivers, brooks, and streams out in Colorado and Wyoming, I took some short videos of just a stream rushing, the sound of it, so I can play that back or maybe use it. I love it. What do you think are some options for people who may be feeling a little constricted by a number of circumstances, whatever they would be on their cancer journey? They may want to do that, but it's just not in the cards for them to jump in a car and travel 1,000 miles to the Rocky Mountains. What do you think are some ways people can somehow make it happen for themselves?

Get outside anywhere. Like you mentioned, the little space at your office building. For people who live in apartments, there's someplace, there's a park nearby. When I was first diagnosed, I had some complications, and I spent seven weeks in the hospital. Then they had to transfer me to a different facility. I'm on the gurney, and they put me outside, and however I reacted, they realized I had not been in sunlight for a while. They said, "We're not in any hurry," and they parked the gurney I was on in the sun. I just laid there. It was one of those things where it was almost a religious experience to feel the sunlight and breathe the fresh air after being in that very sterile environment. Anytime you can get outside, and that's the tricky thing with how we live now. We have our cars in the garage, and we don't even go outside to get into our cars. I tell people, if it's not 95 degrees, put your window down, get fresh air. When I'm in the mountains, my window is down, even if it's just a couple of inches, because I want to smell the trees and feel that crisp air. Do what you can to do that. One of the studies we were looking at showed that even artificial things help. You mentioned the sounds that help people sleep. Screensavers on your computer that have nature scenes, things like that, they can transport you into those places. Obviously, the real thing is better, but sometimes you just can't do it for whatever reason. Do what you can to make an environment inside, have plants, have flowers, whatever you can do to bring nature in..

I love this line of thinking because it goes back a little bit. The main reason my wife and I went out to Oregon from our home here in Indiana was to see our son graduate from the University of Oregon School of Architecture. He specializes, one of the reasons he went out to Oregon in the first place, in something - I don't know the exact name for it - but it's environmentally sensitive architecture. I got the opportunity to see his final project that he worked on, as well as the other grad students'. These are graduate students in architecture. It was so cool to see how these innovative people were creating spaces, libraries, business office parks, other spaces, and integrating nature, green space, solar energy, big windows, and other things into their architectural designs. There's this mindfulness, and I just love that. That's one of the reasons he wants to work in this field. We're very encouraged about him getting a degree. But I think that's a cool thing. It's not just putting up a building with no windows. It's part of a building that is mindful of nature. That's a good thing.

We came across a concept that I thought was interesting in some of the reading and research we did called Biophilia. For the doctors who were interested, it refers to the innate human drive to connect with nature and other living things. Popularized by a Harvard biologist named Edward Wilson, he had a book called "Biophilia." He says our attraction to nature is genetically predetermined as a result of evolution. The term Biophilia translates into love of life. I thought that was pretty cool, that there is this connection, an innate DNA type of thing that we got to do. If we want to have true healing, if we want to have healing, the totality, the whole holistic person would not only need the medical side of things and the mental health side of things, and relational things with friends or family. We got to have this nature thing, don't we?

Yeah, I've had doctors tell me to get out and take walks. Even if it was a 10-minute walk, just get outside.

Yeah. Well, that is awesome. And I just want to encourage our listeners here, our lifter uppers, as we like to call them here on Cancer and Comedy, that if you want to put a smile on your face, if you want to have an uplift in your life, one of the ways of doing that is to get outside and just hear the birds, hear children play in a park, go smell the roses, stop and smell the roses, that type of thing. It's not just a silly song, it's not just a feel-good emotional thing. It is a physiological thing that can be helpful to you as well. And maybe try some of these concepts we're talking about here of gardening, even if the gardening is not, you know, just having a house plant, or having a connection to someone else in your life who likes to do that. You know, I know when I was a pastor, it was always cool when the farmers and the gardeners would bring in their cucumbers and zucchini and things. That was a gift to me, that's kind of a cool thing. And sweet corn whenever they would bring in as a gift. It's just a nice touch in that. And maybe if you can also kind of get aligned with this Biophilia thing we're talking about, understand that your physical health is connected to your mental health, and they're all exactly integrated. Maybe try a little bit more of this forest bathing type of thing as well. We don't want to get, you know,

we're not saying

it doesn't mean walking through the woods. Well, maybe, I don't know, maybe for some people, but not for me. But you get the idea. Anything else you want to say about this? Any thoughts you have about it?

I think it's just so important that we do that, that we get some fresh air, that we get some vitamin D, all of those various things. Even if it's just a short period of time, anything you can do, get out and do it. You'll feel better. Like you said, you hear the birds chirp and things like that. It's hard not to sit and smile when you have something like that.

Yeah. Awesome. I love the fact that you're from Colorado, and I got to experience some of that, and that's just a part of who you are. It is. Well, Debbie, it was good to have a great conversation with you about nature. I love talking about my trip out west, seeing nature. We have beautiful nature here in Indiana as well. My wife and I go places around here all the time, and the state parks and what have you. But there's something really cool about the mountains out west, and I just saw your face light up when we talked about your hometown and about the mountains of Colorado. That helps you feel good too, doesn't it?

It does. It is such a beautiful place. Well, now folks, don't say I didn't warn you at the start. It is time for another one of Dr. Brad's bad jokes of the day.