Outdoor Movement as Medicine [Podcast Series]
[:55] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Dr. Melissa Sundermann
Dr. Sundermann is a lifestyle and internal medicine physician.
She is also a lover of everything outdoors, especially movement.
[1:26] Health benefits of moving outdoors in nature
“So just spending time in nature can be your own medication for focus and concentration. Decreased levels of stress and fatigue. So, yes, so many health benefits of just being outdoors and preferably moving our bodies outdoors.”
[5:23] Talking to patients about nature as medicine
“And I think that, as a lifestyle medicine physician and as a nature medicine physician, I think you really have to practice what you preach, right? And so if I was completely sedentary and locked inside my house or my office all day, I really couldn't speak from the heart. And so I think that that's really important is that if I'm going to talk the talk, I need to walk the walk, metaphorically and physically.”
[7:31] Overcoming barriers to access
“Any kind of green space that you can find will work. And so don't let that, well, I don't live next to a national park, so forget it, I'm just gonna stay inside. No, just anytime you're outdoors, find anything that's green. And that's going to be really helpful for you.”
[12:53] Supporting parks
“I really encourage people, like on the weekends go visit these parks because we want them to be there and accessible and the only way is that we have to visit them.”
[14:48] Mental health benefits of being active outdoors in nature
“You just did that 10 minutes, you just did a meditation. And that's going to be great for your focus, and, and just feeling better. And I think just like connecting to our sense of self. When we're out in nature and we get rid of all the other distractions, it's using all five of our senses, which can be really powerful. There's not a lot of activities that we do that we use all five of our senses.”
[18:23] Mood follows action
“But if you take action and do the action, i.e., we're talking about moving our bodies outdoors, your mood will follow. And I pretty much guarantee that anytime you go outdoors or you move your body outdoors, you never come back and say, Gosh, darn it. I really wish I didn't do that. You're just never, you never feel like that, you think wow.”
[23:04] Trusted role models
“When I say you’re right genes run in families, but so do recipes and lifestyles. And so I’m, as a lifestyle medicine doctor, nature doctor, I'm going to help you. I'm going to walk you through this. No pun intended. I will walk you through this, and I will give you the education and the tools that your genes don't have to be your destiny and you don't have to manifest these chronic diseases.”
[26:26] Movement as medicine
“I absolutely completely agree with you about movement is medicine, right? And when we look at—I'm going to refer to the Blue Zones again—these are the healthiest populations that live the longest across all sectors of the world. They don't go to Planet Fitness in Okinawa, and so, right? They're not going there at two in the morning because it's open, Lifetime Fitness open 24 hours a day. No. They're moving their bodies, they're growing their own food, they're meeting their friends walking into another village to go meet up with their friends and maybe dancing. So it's, movement is key.”
[28:34] Advice for healthcare providers
“So I'm gonna say first and foremost, you got to start doing this yourself. And there's been studies that physicians are more apt to recommend movement if they're doing it themselves. So I want you to start by getting outdoors, spending time in nature, go to a park. start feeling that yourself.”
