Long walk to freedom from family tension
Forget the mall — go for a stroll in the outdoors for better bonding with the kids or a loved one, writes
CHASING HAPPINESS: Researchers say that families who get out and play together, stay together
GETTING along with your family is a walk in the park. Literally, according to new scientific research.
US researchers recommend families spend time together in green environments to boost relations.
Nature is known to restore the attention of tired individuals and this study shows how sharing time together outdoors is likely to improve how families get on as well.
Lead author Dina Izenstark, from the department of human development and family studies at the University of Illinois, says: “You’re able to pick up on social cues more easily, you feel less irritable, and you have more self-control if your attention is restored. All of these can help you get along better.
“Everyone has finite attention, especially in today’s society where we are constantly looking at our cellphones or working on our computers and our e-mail keeps popping up.”
We are constantly tiring out our attention — but we are not always aware of this.
Thembi Khumalo, a senior manager at Standard Bank, loves to trail run and hike with her husband of 13 years, and cycle with her sister on the streets of Johannesburg.
“I can’t even imagine having another running partner than my husband, Senele. We have time to appreciate each other as part of nature and not just as workaholics,” she says, describing their adventures on the Arabella trail run near Hermanus and at Sabie in Mpumalanga.
“Last weekend I was in Kruger with my sister doing safari walks. I came back yesterday feeling so refreshed.”
The study reports that nature is unique in combining four elements thought to reduce mental fatigue: being away, getting fascinated, extent (exposure to another world) and compatibility (matching people’s inclinations). Interesting places and things that engage people with little or no effort restore attention, through a process known as “soft fascination”.
Watching a sporting event or going to an amusement park is defined as hard fascination and does not allow the brain to relax, however enjoyable.
Izenstark said: “It’s so important that we incorporate moments into our everyday lives where we can look into nature and where it is possible to experience soft fascination.”
Cape Town-based family therapist Sumayyah Khan said nature had been proven to improve mood and stimulate the senses.
She said: “The exposure to fresh air and vitamin D has proven to lift moods, decrease anxiety, and even make kids more attentive. It promotes creativity and imagination, as play outdoors is unstructured.
“By families being involved in these activities together, every member has the same benefits, leading to a happier and healthier family environment.”
Khan said that she prescribed leisure time to families to allow members to get away from their busy lives and monotonous tasks that can leave them stressed as well as lethargic.
Professor Aaron Ebata, Izenstark’s colleague and co-author of the study, said: “When you are a parent, especially with young, active children and you’re feeling a little stressed, there is something about going to a park and letting them run [it] off.
“There is something about natural places that almost releases parents from feeling like they are on duty in the same way they are at home.”
The greener and more isolated the area is from an urban setting, the greater the benefits.
Doing any activities together goes a long way to bring parents and children closer, therapists said. Head of counselling at the Family Life Centre, Judy Ramsden, said: “I really think it benefits families to do things together, whether it’s sport, time at the park or in the bush.
“From my experience people start to drift apart and not communicate if they are not interested in doing anything their partner likes,” said Ramsden, a counsellor for 28 years.
Business-development manager Ricky Marima and his wife Nomhle take their toddler out every weekend to green spaces such as Delta Park in Johannesburg.
“We wanted to give her the best life, not just materially but to be able to keep up with her; and we made a conscious decision to be more active.
“Our daughter Tatenda gets bored quickly with TV. She loves the outdoors and the water and it is much better stimulation for her. Our favourite place to go is Ballito, where we stay in a cottage right on the beach.”
Marima is active on social media — but he enjoys the break when the family gets out and leaves their gadgets behind. “You can’t be hiking up a mountain and still be looking at trending topics.”
Outdoor routines as a family have benefits beyond those of being physically active since they foster a sense of belonging and identity.
Izenstark said: “Even if you have a bad day, say you get rained on and everyone gets soaked, the total benefit of that ritual for the family becomes larger than just individual, short-term benefits.”
Paul Fatti, an emeritus professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, said he and his late wife had taken their children into the mountains since they were babies. His son and three daughters, now in their 30s, are still hiking and climbing with him: “I am a mountaineer and I would not have gone without the family unless I was going on expeditions,” said Fatti, 72.
“I think going into nature specifically, even a walk in the park, is certainly good for families. You are more focused on each other and not other distractions.”
While many leisure activities
Our daughter gets bored with TV. She loves the outdoors and water; it is better for her You can’t be hiking up a mountain and still be looking at trending topics
benefit families, Izenstark said, “We want to encourage families, even if you only have 20 minutes to spend together, to go and take a walk in nature.”
In an experiment to test their theory, she is getting mothers and daughters to take a 20minute walk at the mall as well as a 20-minute walk at the park, and checking the attention restoration in each outing.
Izenstark and Ebata analysed prior studies on families in natural environments for this study, published in the current issue of The Journal of Family Theory and Review. Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.sundaytimes.co.za