During this 'peculiar' summer, we have decided to spend our holidays outdoors: in remote villages, in rural houses, in campsites... in short, in the middle of nature. But what will happen when winter comes and the cold and darkness of the increasingly shorter days come upon us? Will we stay home longer? if we want keep us healthy and, incidentally, increase our dose of happiness , does not seem the best option. At least, that's what a Norwegian, accustomed to "outdoor life", would tell you. Those are the four words that translate the concept of friluftsliv.
"We consider friluftsliv a wide range of activities in nature: walking, cycling, boating, hunting, berry and mushroom picking , fishing, sleeping in a tent or in a hammock, climbing, skating, bathing in a lake or in the sea, cross-country skiing...", tells us Synne Kvam, head of Norsk Friluftsliv. This institution is made up of by 18 Norwegian voluntary organisations, with more than 950,000 members and 5,000 outdoor clubs and organisations.
"But friluftsliv is not just about the activity itself," Kvam continues. " Relax, observe the stillness, rest, just be in nature or enjoying the smell of coffee around a campfire is friluftsliv. For Norwegians this word has a deep meaning ranging from 'disconnecting from daily stress' to settling as part of 'we' as a country, which unites us as people with a common culture and as human beings who are part of nature".
'Friluftsliv' with family
One fact is enough to corroborate that living in nature is considered, as this professional tells us, one of the main "ingredients" of Norwegian culture: nine out of ten inhabitants of the territory participate in this form of leisure during the year, according to data from Norsk Friluftsliv.
FRILUFTSLIV FROM THE CRADLE
This habit begins from birth, in the barnehage, the nursery school. " Every day (whatever the weather) we go out to play for a minimum of two hours . One day a week we go on an excursion. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes. In Spain, the majority of children stay locked up on rainy days... Missing all the experiences that the rain offers us!", Míriam, a Valencian who has been working in these spaces for five years, told us in the article What could we do? learn in Spain from Norwegian nursery schools?
On Instagram, where the friluftsliv tag returns almost a million images, it is well known Florian Mine , a three-year-old Norwegian girl who has already passed over 300 nights of her life sleeping in a tent - including the 57 nights that, when she was two years old, she and her father spent hiking in the middle of winter. Now her little sister has also joined the expedition.
It seems like a somewhat 'extreme' case, but not that rare: Friluftsliv is a big part of both our kindergartens and the school, and during the weekends, it is common for children do friluftsliv activities with their families ", assures Kvam
So internalized are Norwegians this habit of spending time outdoors that they even use it to flirt . "We did research this summer that showed that three out of five Norwegians use photos of themselves in a friluftsliv setting on dating apps. We think the numbers are very high because people want to show that they are interested in an active life on air. ; it's seen as a positive sign, showing that someone is healthy."
FRILUFTSLIV AND HAPPINESS
Norway always scores high in rankings that measure happiness. This 2020, for example, has been in fifth place among all the territories in the world. Kvam thinks friluftsliv has a lot to do with it. "When we are outdoors is when we feel most relaxed ; we focus on how good it is for our body and mind.
Happiness and health increase when we spend time outdoors
Experts such as Pablo Muñoz, from the consultancy for design and architectural creation in sustainability and health Evalore, assure that we spend 90% of our lives indoors, "which are two to five times more polluted than the outside." This lack of exposure to the plant environment, cataloged as a 'nature deficit' by the writer Richard Louv, has consequences: a decrease in the use of the senses, attention difficulties, a higher incidence of physical and mental illnesses and an increasing rate of myopia, obesity and vitamin D deficiency.
In addition, studies such as the one carried out by David Strayer, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Utah, have shown that exposure to nature allows the prefrontal cortex to "rest" from the stress we put on it daily. The results? Those who are "lost in the woods" for at least three days, perform 50% better at solving creative problems and feel their senses "recalibrate" until you experience new sensations, among other benefits.
Other works assure that, those who live near a green space, see remarkably reduced disease levels as disparate as depression, anxiety, heart disease, asthma and migraines, and even increase their life expectancy.
The extraordinary Norwegian landscapes certainly encourage spending time in nature
"In Norway, we are lucky to living close to nature and having easy access to it -the distances to access a green space are very short-, as well as having the 'right to roam freely', a law that establishes that you can be, sleep in a tent, ride a bicycle, make a bonfire, and so on, in almost any natural area, no matter who owns the land," says Kvam. "This closeness and the facilities associated with it mean that we can be outdoors as often as we like, something that relaxes us and slows us down. our stress levels probably has an effect on what let's be as happy as we are".
FRILUFTSLIV AND THE SEASONS
Although this summer, in Spain, we have certainly become lovers of friluftsliv, what will happen when the rigors of winter begin to make an appearance? In theory, it shouldn't change anything. According to Norsk expert Friluftsliv, there are so many benefits that Norwegians find in being in nature that come to her throughout the year , although in winter it decreases a bit due to the harsh weather conditions -the average temperature during this time is -6.8ºC-.
"In a country like Norway, where you can experience months of heavy rain, snow, cold and almost no sun, you must embrace the seasons and the weather . Personally, I love that we have four very different seasons, because that way I always look forward to the next one."
"There is no bad weather, only bad clothes"
The secret is to adapt the activities but, above all, the clothes, to each season. "Here we have a saying: ' There is no bad weather, only bad clothes '", she tells us, alluding to a concept that Míriam already echoed a few lines back." That means that no excuse to stay inside , even if it rains, snows or is -15 degrees; you just have to put on an outfit that suits the weather," concludes Kvam.
BRING FRILUFTSLIV INTO YOUR LIFE
This Scandinavian concept is said to be the new hygge, so you'll start hearing it often. There are already books built around it, such as Friluftsliv, connect with nature the Norwegian way (Sterling Publishing, 2020). In that volume, Oliver Luke Delorie offers us a guide to implement this concept in our day to day , getting all the juice possible in four ways:
1. Playing in nature -sliding down a slope, making yourself a flower crown, creating rhythms with the natural elements around you-
two. Watching the landscape - skimming the bark of the trees, observing the web of a spider, identifying mushrooms -
3. Exploring and experimenting the environment -spending the night in a hammock, planting food, visiting a farm-
Four. diving in without more in what the outdoors has to offer us: the song of the birds, the touch of the grass, the caress of the breeze, the contact with our own breath.