So we have had to find ways to work around it!” “That reality is really hitting during these darker, rainier days, but we realize the responsibility put onto us of keeping our family and community safe. “By mid-summer we knew this would not be your average winter,” says Phil Torres, a Seattle-based scientist and science communicator who was looking forward to big ski trips and rented cabins with friends. And let’s go do that.’”Įven beyond Seattle’s parks and green spaces, plenty of people are devising ways to get outside in ways that both meet baseline health needs and replicate some of the wild magic missing from a season without big group activities or trips to faraway mountain towns. A drop-in experience where you don’t have to have it on your schedule might make you just say, ‘Hey, I want to go play soccer or Frisbee or lacrosse down at the field today. “Oftentimes people are precluded from being able to participate in our great ball fields because of organized sports. “This isn’t for organized games or practices,” Cutler says. “We thought that it would die down in the winter, but that’s not been the case,” she says.ĭemand for space led the department to launch a new drop-in program for small pandemic pods on city ball fields. “I think we’re all struggling with social isolation,” says Cutler.Īcross the summer and even through the winter, Parks and Recreation has seen a “dramatic increase” in park usage and park program participation, says Cutler’s colleague Lakema Bell, a program coordinator. But as winter approached, they realized they needed to do more.
Seattle Parks and Recreation employees had been working to create socially distanced activities throughout all of COVID-19, says recreation division director Justin Cutler.
People may be time constrained, yes, but making the effort to go outside isn’t a luxury.” “Nature experiences are fundamental to our well-being. “Longer experiences can generate more durable and even memorable benefits, but if we think of what is the most basic experience in terms of time in bad weather or darkness, then a half-hour outside seems doable,” says Lawler’s colleague, Dr. Some studies found that even little five-minute outdoor excursions can benefit our health - but 20 to 60 minutes is even better. “Many studies have linked time spent in nature with improved mood, reduced stress and anxiety, and even reduced rates of depression.” Josh Lawler, an ecologist and professor at the University of Washington who runs the university’s Nature and Health program. “One of the big motivating factors for me is knowing how important getting outside is for my mental health,” says Dr. And as we find ourselves in the coldest, darkest days of the year during the worst-case surge yet, it can feel like a herculean task just to take a daily walk around the block.īut to break those repetitive days, with some creative thinking many are still finding varied opportunities to play outside with friends - something experts say is essential for well-being. With each passing month, more and more Washingtonians are suffering under the physical, emotional and financial damages of enduring a lengthy pandemic.
Bennett Rahn learns to ski at the Summit at Snoqualmie (Bennett Rahn). This article was originally published in Crosscut.