walking in the rain is good for you
Are you taking a moment to process the title of this blog? Not all of us see rain and automatically think, yep I need to get out and really enjoy the rain. Depending on the level of rain, you may find walks liberating or cold, annoying and just hard going. When on the way to the shops, with the wrong coat, the rain can be a nuisance. I wonder, if you choose the right place with the right coat, walking in the rain could become somewhat magical. For me, walking in the woods with the rain is very soothing. I see the trees as nature’s umbrella, with a gentle background track of the sound of the water drops falling through the leaves.
Like much in the world of counselling and therapy, ways of practicing have been taught & used for years a long time before the neuroscience was available to explain the benefits. As therapists we see the difference a certain intervention may make without having first had the full knowledge that neuroscience now gives us, to help explain our work. We are now able to see, through neuroscience, the finer detail of what happens during therapy. Consider the father of psychodynamic practice, Freud. If you consider the science from the early 20th century when he was developing his ideas & theories, how much science was there to back up his teachings and practices?
An interesting fact is that Freud took the German classical composer Mahler on a 4 hour walk - I like to think that Freud was one of the first outdoor therapists. As we move forward in our thinking and practices, it’s a delight to read of today’s neuroscience and to discover the biological detail the benefits that therapy can bring to humans.
So, back to walking in the rain - there is now evidence of the benefits to humans of walking in the rain. Here are some helpful articles on this topic:
The Guardian from 2022 (Bad weather is good for you)
….If you’re in the country, a downpour is the perfect time to walk – but for quite different reasons. The pounding of raindrops causes plants, trees and soil to release sweet-smelling compounds which then mingle and combine in the air we breathe. The Scottish writer, Nan Shepherd, loved walking after rainfall, noting that birch trees released a perfume “fruity like old brandy”. Studies suggest that inhaling these compounds improves our mood, while the abundance of negative air ions – created as water and air molecules collide making a molecule with an extra charge – can improve respiratory health and immunity. When Austrian scientists ran a series of experiments in the Alps, they were stunned to find that participants walking in heavily ionised air had higher levels of a vital antibody located in the mucosal lining of the mouth, nose and gut. The researchers speculated that this bounteous antibody accounted for the participants’ strengthened immunity and amplified lung capacity.
[For those of you with an interest in the science - see the link to the journal mentioned in the article - https://jphysiolanthropol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40101-016-0117-3]
Psychologies.co.uk - https://www.psychologies.co.uk/walking-in-the-rain-benefits/
This article covers some of the science and also helps provide a mindful setting with guidance on how to reap the benefits of walking in the rain.
Here is a one hour walk around Bargany Gardens (Girven, South Ayrshire) in the rain:
In my practice, I agree with clients that we will meet in what is called safe weather e.g. it isn’t heavy rain or wind or storm warnings when we will meet.
In Fife and South Queensferry there are an array of beautiful woods to act as natural umbrellas for our weekly sessions. In Edinburgh you may find some invigoration in pounding the wet pavements or even taking a coastal walk by the sea. There are always options and benefits to meeting in the rain.
