Summer can be both liberating and overwhelming to the nervous system. Longer days, changes in routine, heat sensitivity, and increased social expectations can all impact emotional regulation. Outdoor, experiential coping strategies can help support the nervous system for many, while somatic, experiential, and nature-integrated activities can support overall mental health and well-being. With summer in full swing, we can explore and practice new coping strategies for emotional regulation. Even brief exposure to nature has been researched and shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. If there isn’t time for a long hike or deep wilderness immersion, a short walk with the pups will do. Walking with dogs or other pets can support co-regulation and encourage regular movement, even when motivation is low. Pet inclusion can increase oxytocin and bonding while reducing stress response. Simply observing a dog’s sensory engagement in what they are smelling and exploring can help shift attention to present-moment awareness, which can be especially helpful when the mind feels overstimulated or pulled into worry loops.
Micro-walks are walks that last anywhere from 10–20 minutes that help to generate bilateral stimulation through rhythmic movement, which can naturally support nervous system regulation. This alternating left-right movement pattern, combined with walking, is thought to help integrate sensory and cognitive processing and can be calming for many individuals. Walking itself also supports vagal tone over time, which is associated with improved stress regulation and emotional flexibility. Large meta-analyses of randomized and controlled studies have found that nature-based interventions can help produce measurable shifts in mood and stress responses in both brain and body systems. These shifts are often reflected in reduced cortisol levels, improved affect, and increased feelings of calm and clarity.
Trying forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, can be a helpful way to intentionally immerse in sensory grounding while outdoors. Forest bathing is not about exercise or distance, but rather about slowing down and allowing the senses to fully engage with the environment. This can include focusing on the sights, smells, textures, and sounds of nature in a non-judgmental way. Even brief sensory immersion can help ground the nervous system into the present moment and reduce cognitive overload. Stopping to “smell the roses” is not just a popular saying but reflects a broader therapeutic principle of slowing attention and increasing sensory awareness. Gardening and horticulture therapy can also help improve mood, reduce anxiety, and decrease depressive symptoms. Gardening engages multiple sensory systems including touch, smell, sight, and movement, while also mirroring emotional growth through the process of nurturing and caring for living things. For many, it can also provide a sense of routine, responsibility, and connection to something meaningful outside of oneself, especially when tending to plants that grow and change over time.
Mycobacterium vaccae is a soil-dwelling bacterium studied in both animal and human research that has been associated with increased serotonin activity and dampened stress-response pathways, including reductions in cortisol-related reactivity. Some research suggests that contact with soil and natural environments may have a mild immunoregulatory and mood-supportive effect, contributing to reduced anxiety-like behaviors. While the mechanism is still being studied, even simple engagement with soil—such as gardening, planting, or digging—can help decrease stress and increase sensory grounding through tactile stimulation and environmental exposure. This reinforces the idea that interacting with natural systems can have both psychological and physiological benefits.
When natural environments are paired with movement, sensory awareness, and mindfulness, anxiety reduction, nervous system regulation, and improved mood are often supported and catalyzed. Somatic and body-based grounding techniques, such as body scans during walks or time in nature, can help bring awareness back into the present moment. This includes noticing sensations in the feet while walking, the temperature of the air, muscle tension in the shoulders or jaw, and the rhythm of breath. Strategic breath work, such as slowing the exhale or matching breath to footsteps, can also support parasympathetic activation and improve emotional regulation. Expanding surrounding awareness—noticing colors, movement, sounds, and spatial orientation—can help widen attention and reduce internal overwhelm. These practices collectively support regulation capacity, attention control, and increased interoceptive awareness, which is the ability to sense internal body states.
Living near blue spaces and water environments such as lakes, rivers, and streams provides Wisconsinites and others in similar regions a unique opportunity to explore how water environments are linked to improved mood and relaxation. Water is a powerful sensory regulator, offering rhythmic auditory input, visual motion, and consistent environmental patterns that can be calming to a dysregulated nervous system. Watching waves, ripples, or flowing currents can help slow cognitive processing and support a shift into more relaxed attentional states. Research on “blue space” exposure shows a consistent association with reduced negative affect and improved relaxation, as well as increased feelings of restoration and psychological distance from stressors.
Summertime also offers increased daylight, which can naturally improve mood through greater light exposure but can also disrupt sleep schedules if routines become inconsistent. Maintaining consistent bedtimes and wake times can help support the overall restorative quality of sleep and stabilize circadian rhythms. Social pressure to “be active” or “make the most of the weather” can increase anxiety for some individuals, while heat intensity can increase irritability, fatigue, and emotional dysregulation. Recognizing personal limits in heat and energy levels is an important part of self-regulation and prevents overstimulation of the nervous system. Access to nature can present an ideal environment to practice grounding and mindfulness techniques that support experiential learning in real time.
Grounding is the simple practice of bringing attention and awareness back to the present moment. This helps to pull anxious minds out of future-oriented thinking and depressed minds out of past-oriented rumination. Reconnecting the mind and body through grounding sensory awareness can provide cognitive, sensory, and environmental opportunities to reduce overwhelm, dissociation, rumination, and anxiety spirals. It also strengthens the ability to tolerate internal experiences without immediately reacting or avoiding them, which can improve emotional resilience over time.
Mindfulness is the ability to notice the present moment without judgment, allowing the focus to be less on “thinking differently” and more on “experiencing differently.” This shift can be subtle but meaningful, as it encourages curiosity rather than evaluation. Somatic awareness of breath, muscle tension, body posture, and temperature helps regulate the nervous system through direct physical cues, building tolerance for emotional discomfort without avoidance. Over time, this can strengthen the connection between body awareness and emotional regulation, allowing individuals to notice early signs of stress before they escalate.
Experiential therapy focuses on learning through doing rather than talking alone, engaging emotions, senses, and movement within various environmental settings. These experiences can help integrate insight into the body, not just the mind, making coping strategies more accessible in real-world situations. Experiential concepts are naturally supported by summer and outdoor accessibility, where everyday activities can become therapeutic when paired with intentional emotional awareness and reflection. Walking as a grounding practice can help regulate breathing and heart rate naturally, while consistent foot contact with the ground can increase present-moment mindfulness and bodily orientation. Walking with headphones can also increase sensory engagement, and rhythm in music can be matched with walking pace to further enhance regulatory effects and support emotional pacing throughout the activity.
If you or someone you know is looking for support, feel free to reach out to Behavioral Health Clinic at 855.607.8242 or visit BHClinic.com
References:
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