Editors note: This opinion-piece does not represent the opinion of Beaver’s Digest but rather it reflects the personal opinions and observations of the writer

Happy winter! Time to max out on credits, hole up in our beds, and cry ourselves to sleep each night.

The new term is just about rolling around here at Oregon State University. For a lot of folks, this means less time outdoors due to changes in weather or light patterns.

According to a 2019 article by the American Psychological Association on environmental neuroscience, there are many benefits to connecting with nature.

These benefits have been shown to improve cognitive, emotional, social, and other brain functioning realms. It was stated that even brief interactions with nature helped improve things such as memory functioning.

I went to ask Juliet McGraw, a first-year instructor of agricultural sciences and agricultural leadership here at Oregon State University, what creative ways she knew of how to interact with the outdoors and stay healthy with regard to the winter term. 

She shared a group of methods, connecting with the five senses, to help students get outside, pushing against or not needing to fear the cold and wet.

Hearing

When I asked McGraw about getting outside in the winter, one of the first things she mentioned was the myriad of sounds that are present on campus.

She spoke of the abundance of trees and referred specifically to how these make space for an even greater abundance of bird life. 

“Birds are having a great day. They’re eating, they’re socializing, they’re having fun, they’re doing things that birds do, and it’s a normal part of their life,” McGraw said. 

Using auditory cues to reframe our perspectives of winter can help change what seems to be a gloomy day into something new and spectacular. 

“So maybe being able to appreciate that while winter may not be our particular favorite season in that given moment, that it is somebody’s favorite season in that given moment.”

Sight

Another way to engage with the outdoors in the winter that McGraw shared with me involves the use of colored pencils.

McGraw explained to me how, in many different jobs she has worked, she has led outdoor walks and excursions. She explained that on these walks, she will pull out a standard pack of colored pencils to do an activity.

“We frequently get this idea that everything is grey, and that is really not true,” McGraw said.

To engage people at the beginning of a walk, McGraw would have people take out a package of colored pencils and encourage them to seek out the colors in the environment. 

She would emphasize trying to find all of the colors, even the vibrant ones that someone might not typically expect in a winter environment, to show the diversity that is present.

“Once you start looking for those colors, literally out in the landscape, you all of a sudden see that it is a very vibrant, full of a lot of gradients of color. They’re just muted, they’re in a gray scale.” McGraw explained. “We’re not walking around in a black and white TV set.”

The beauty of this practice is that it can be done with a handful of colorful objects (whether or not they are pencils), and it can be done outside or inside. A window can create a great viewing point for observing the colors of winter.

Smell

The first thing that McGraw explained when thinking of the smells of late fall and winter was the smell of the natural composting and soil-building processes. There is plenty to notice outside in the fresh, dead matter and the moisture in the air. 

Another method of enjoying winter with less commitment to exposing oneself to the elements is through boiling water as an alternative humidifier. 

“Boiling water that’s plain is still very good for you,” McGraw shared, “Throw some cedar and some lemon and some cinnamon in there and make it a little different.”

“So it’s like a humidifier, but it’s clean, because you’re going to take it off your stove and wash it, instead of a humidifier that sometimes, they just go in the corner and get freaky.”

Taste

When I asked McGraw about taste in the winter, she brought up the natural sensation, both related to taste and smell, that comes with the winter air. One way she recommended connecting to the taste of winter is by making homemade icicles by filling popsicle makers with ice and leaving them outside overnight. 

This is a cheap, easy-to-do activity that can help connect us to the outside flavors in the winter. Making it applicable to a college life that might be limited in space or resources.

McGraw noted another way to connect to the outdoors this winter through taste. She spoke about cooking with spices that might be commercially connected with winter in America, but using them in their traditional contexts. 

She brought up how bringing in these spices adds color to the home, which breaks up the rainy funk one can get themselves into this time of year. 

“I mean cinnamon in curries, and turmeric, and cardamom, and allspice, and cloves, and ginger, those are all things that appear a lot in our Americanized holiday foods,” McGraw said. “I am not opposed to them being in sweet coffee drinks, but there’s places they came from.” 

“Winter is a really good time with experimenting with other cuisines,” McGraw said. “And those dishes also tend to add a lot of color. Because the spices are very colorful, and those food groups are very colorful. And so that adds colors inside to breaking up the monotony of the rain.”

Touch

When I asked McGraw about ways to connect with our sense of touch in nature during the winter, she gave some interesting ideas.

“If you’re going to be out in the rain, jump in the puddles, but have a plan for being cozy when you get back inside,” McGraw explained.“​​​​If you’re already outside and gonna get wet, and you know you’re gonna have to change clothes when you get home, you can lean into it.” 

For someone who might not be as keen about getting wet at all, McGraw explained another method of bringing the outside in by holding a rock, or a leaf, or whatever you might find, and carrying it around with you throughout the day. 

This method can provide a touchpoint that connects and reminds someone of the outside, but does not necessarily require a person to expose themselves to the elements fully.