From Outside Magazine, this is the Outside Podcast.

A few years back, Outside Magazine published a story about a grassroots movement of

doctors prescribing time outdoors as a treatment for a wide range of conditions.

The physicians writing these prescriptions weren't going rogue.

They were reacting to new research, showing that nature can help us with everything from

anxiety and attention deficit disorder to high blood pressure.

Personally, I love that modern science is showing us what outside has long preached, that

heading out our doors is really good for us.

But lately, I've also been feeling a bit frustrated, because what I really want to see is evidence

that nature might also heal something I deal with far too frequently, a broken heart.

You see, I'm something of a reluctant breakup expert.

I've been dumped, I've done the breaking, I've come to many well-reasoned mutual splits.

In my mid-twenties, I already have go-to break-up sweatpants, a go-to break-up ice cream,

lemon, and go-to break-up movies, birds of prey, and ten things I hate about you.

And of course, I have some grim post-break-up stories, like the time I got through a particularly

heinous grieving period by eating nothing but pizza for four days straight.

Other times, though, I've turned to the outdoors.

I've convinced myself to go backpacking and take in a week-long solo road trip, and even

gotten into trail running.

Sometimes, this approach works.

Sometimes, it doesn't.

And I've always wondered why.

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