8 Benefits of Meditating in the Outdoors

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Meditation in any form has countless benefits for your mental health and well-being. However, if you’re looking to maximize the results even more, try taking your practice outside. 

Both meditation and time spent in nature have decided perks. Combining them is a one-two punch for overall well-being. 

Are you ready to grab your mat or cushion and head to your favorite sunny spot? Here are eight benefits of meditating in the outdoors. 

The Positive Effects of Being Outdoors 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend more than 90% of their lives indoors, but this condition is far from natural — or healthy. Pollutant concentrations are often two to five times higher in the built environment, but that’s not the only factor affecting how you feel. 

Recall the last time you stepped outside on a sunny day. Didn’t your move instantly improve? Although shelter has long been necessary for survival, humans are a part of the natural world, so adapted to it that they manufacture an essential hormone — vitamin D — from exposure to the sun. 

You can see the positive effects of spending more time outdoors on people of all ages. Schoolchildren participating in outdoor learning have higher standardized test scores and perform better in math, reading, science, and social studies. Older adults who spend more time outside have lower rates of anxiety and depression and higher life expectancy. 

8 Benefits of Meditating in the Outdoors 

Meditation, likewise, has decided benefits. It can decrease anxiety, improve your self-esteem and help you handle negative events and emotions with less stress. Since everything that impacts your mind also affects your body, you might experience lower blood pressure and heart rate and may feel inspired to take action on unhealthy habits. 

When you combine the health benefits of being outdoors with those of meditation, the effects amplify each other. It’s like taking a plain vanilla cookie and adding chocolate chips. Both cookies and chocolate are delicious on their own, but together, they’re the stuff of magic. 

Here are the benefits you can reap from taking your meditation practice outdoors. 

1. Increased Oxygen Intake 

You already know outdoor air has fewer pollutants than you breathe inside. There’s another lung-happy perk to meditating outdoors. Fresh air generally contains higher oxygen levels, a molecule your body’s cells desperately need, thanks to fewer pollutants like carbon monoxide displacing its concentrations. 

Exposure to higher oxygen levels causes blood vessels in your lungs to dilate, cleansing and repairing the tissues within. They also carry this life-giving oxygen to all parts of your body, increasing gas exchange and speeding toxin removal. 

What do you do when you meditate? You breathe deeply. Doing so does more than clears your mind — it cleans out your lungs and helps your body remove yucky stuff it doesn’t need. 

2. Easier Emotional Temperature and Mindset Shift 

Have you ever tried to meditate but struggled to get into the right mental state? While there’s no right or wrong way to practice, some sessions are easier than others. You bring all your mental and emotional junk to the mat or zafu, and it doesn’t disappear simply because you strike a lotus pose. 

However, practicing outside facilitates the emotional temperature and mindset shift you need to enter a contemplative state. Simply gazing at pictures of gorgeous natural scenes begins lowering stress and blood pressure, and immersing yourself in such a setting is even better. 

If you’re extremely emotional about something, you might take some quiet time outdoors to calm your feelings. Focus on your breath, counting your inhales and exhales until you feel a sense of clarity return. 

3. Naturally Combines With Other Practices

Going outdoors is one method of facilitating the emotional and mental shift necessary to get into your meditation groove, but it isn’t the only one. The ancient practice of yoga developed hand in hand with meditation. While Western minds think of it as merely exercise, practicing poses is only one of the eight limbs of yoga, which all work together as a way of life. 

As such, many practitioners begin their meditation sessions with a brief yoga flow to help them attain the desired mental state. Your mind and body work as one — separating them is as impossible as a single-sided coin. 

Practicing yoga outdoors creates a symphony of mind, body and spirit that facilitates meditation. Energetic styles like vinyasa can help you work through stress, while slower, healing forms like restorative yoga allow you to combine contemplation with stretching and nurturing sore, unbalanced areas of your body. 

4. Alleviates Anxiety

Meditation eases anxiety, and so does going outdoors. The scientific evidence backing this assertion up is pretty impressive. A recent 2023 study showed that mindfulness meditation is as effective as escitalopram, a prescription anti-anxiety medication. This finding substantiates earlier research, which found a robust improvement in anxiety symptoms among 1,140 patients in 39 studies. 

5. Eases Depression Symptoms 

Scientific evidence also supports the power of meditation to heal depression. A recent study discovered that performing a loving-kindness meditation, in particular, helped participants activate autobiographical memories that made them feel more loving and connected with others. 

Being outdoors alone eases depression, according to a recent study. Frequent visits to green spaces result in a 33% lower chance of using mental health medications, including antidepressants. 

6. Boosts Immunity 

Going outdoors is good for your immune system, and not just because you leave germy, indoor air behind. Early research on forest bathers revealed that plants and trees emit substances called phytoncides. When humans breathe them, it causes more vital immune system cells to form. 

7. May Improve Blood Pressure 

Getting outdoors is also good for your heart. Those who enjoy green spaces at least three or four times per week have a 36% lower chance of needing blood pressure medication. 

Meditation can also lower your numbers by several milliliters of mercury. A 2023 study found that those participating in mindfulness training reduced their systolic blood pressure by a statistically significant margin. 

8. Improves Overall Sleep Quality

Parents have long known that taking their little ones to the playground facilitates naptime. The same principle applies to adults. 

Getting outdoors inspires you to move. Try engaging in your outdoor meditation practice after going for a walk or doing some gardening. The combination of gentle activity, deep breathing, and contemplation should leave you relaxed and ready for a great night’s rest. 

Benefits of Meditating in the Outdoors 

If you haven’t tried meditating outside, now is the time to start. Reap the benefits of meditation, fresh air, and sunshine all at once. You’ll feel closer to nature and more connected to the one world that unites us all.