Bernard O'Shea: I wear the latest in sporting technology - for the daily walk

Bernard O'Shea. Photograph Moya Nolan

Nature has long been known to have a positive impact on mental health. Various studies have highlighted that immersing yourself in it can reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety. Gone is the stereotype hippy “getting away from it all, man” vibes to a culture of hiking and trail walking that has seen a massive boom during the pandemic.

Now, I wander around shopping centres with expensive brand-named thermal gear just in case a freak blizzard happens to me on my way to the heated underground car park.

Pull into any retail park, and you’ll see gigantic outdoor stores full of gear that Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary would have been apoplectic with joy to have when they first conquered Everest. I laugh at myself when I break out the newest hiking boots lavished with Gore-Tex and unpronounceable fabrics with “poly” in their name.

Why I need such technology is beyond me for my simple daily walks.

In saying that, I did get caught out last year while walking up Keeper Hill in The Silvermine Mountains of County Tipperary.

I walked up in a pair of jeans and leather brogues.

Halfway up, I realised that it was more of a hike and that a pair of Levis and a t-shirt were not fit for purpose.

However, when I reached the top, the view was spectacular.

Although sore and not relishing the walk (or stumbling) back down, it’s hard not to feel a connection to something greater.

You are not the centre of your universe anymore, and during the two-hour walk back down, I wasn’t sure if I was the centre of my own body parts either.

I also took a wrong turn and got lost. I had visions of myself trying to survive the night Bear Grylls style.

One of the main benefits of exposure to nature is that it can provide a sense of calm and tranquility in our highly-processed, always-on digital world.

The sights and sounds, like birds singing or the presence of a flowing stream, can be incredibly soothing and help to create a sense of peace. It’s been shown that people who spend time in nature are more likely to report feeling happier, more content, and more satisfied with their lives.

A recent study published in Molecular Psychiatry Journal found that “amygdala activation decreases after a walk in nature, whereas it remains stable after a walk in an urban environment.

These results suggest that walking in nature can have salutogenic effects on stress-related brain regions. Consequently, it may act as a preventive measure against mental strain and potential disease.”

You have to slow down physically to let nature, in turn, slow down the mind. I’m a true believer in getting out for a walk.

Using the time to have a few arguments with myself and escape life for an hour. But I don’t look at my surroundings.

I should because I walk in some outstanding areas of natural beauty. I’m usually so obsessed with my step count and pleasing the Apple watch that I don’t stop.

I’ve had to train myself to stop and take in my surroundings. I pick a point along my walk and listen, feel and smell.

It sounds nuts, but it works.

Even when I lived in Dublin, I used to walk in the Phoenix Park, and during the lockdown, it was jam-packed. But I found a little nook where there were overgrown laurel trees. I would stand in the middle of it.

Eventually, the traffic sounded like the ocean.

Except for an over-excited Jack Russell, who adopted it as their occasional pit stop, it was my little natural cocoon of solitude.

It was around this time, too, that I tried “grounding” for the first time. I always thought of all these theories as hippy-dippy rubbish, but I was wrong.

But what if you don’t live in the countryside or don’t have access to a rural idle?

Bizarrely there is research implying that even watching scenes of nature could have a similar effect on the brain.

So maybe the typical screen savers of green hills or the Grand Canyon that we have been staring at for the last few decades were mentally beneficial?

Regardless of how you get your nature kicks, I suggest you not hike in jeans. Bring a map too!