Spending time in nature provides a wide range of health benefits, including improved attention and memory, increased social connectivity, lowered blood pressure, decreased stress levels, and more. Research has shown that the recommended weekly “nature prescription” for these benefits is 120 minutes a week, but certain benefits can be felt in as little as 5 minutes!
Challenge overview: encourage and facilitate your team to spend time in nature and explore all that there is to offer around campus + Salt Lake!
Challenge duration: 60-120 minutes/ week for 6 weeks
Possible activity ideas:
- Campus Wellness Walks
- Movement breaks outdoors
- Eat/ spend a part of daily lunch break outdoors
- Implement 5-10 minute mindful “Nature breaks” (could be indoors or outdoors)
- Hold outdoor meetings on greenspace around campus
- Host staff retreat/ gatherings at local parks/ picnic areas
- Organize department hikes, snowshoe, alpine ski, or cross-country ski days
- Active transport to work (bike or walk)
- Create a department “Strava” group to track personal outdoor activities between the team
- Create your own or give your team a copy of our recommended list of seasonal outdoor activities/ trails (weekend trips, day trips, short before or after work adventures, lunch break adventures, etc.)
- Bonus: “Green” your office space with nature-inspired art, indoor plants, and screensavers
How to track? Detailed summary of activity, time spent doing activity each week. Submit at end of challenge.