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This month of May, National Geographic has been giving a nod to Mental Health Awareness Month in the U.S. — with a new campaign unveiling a series of mental health check-ups in the form of articles, videos, photography and more.

The material includes downloadable phone backgrounds, ASMR nature YouTube videos, sense-soothing Spotify playlists and a “How Stressed Are You?” questionnaire first developed by psychologists in 1983.

The organization also released a series of think pieces about a culture of urgency in America that is apparently leading to burnout; the efficiency and effectiveness of meditation; and multiple takes on experiencing stress.

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“In our ‘always-on’ world, people are more stressed than ever, and the science is clear that chronic stress has a negative impact on our health,” National Geographic editor-in-chief Nathan Lump said in a media release. 

“We aim to help people better understand the effects of stress and encourage them to slow down and take the time to prioritize their mental health,” Lump also said.

He added that he hoped “these resources will encourage and facilitate that behavior.”

The initiative for NatGeo sprouted from a deep dive into how scientists have been attempting to solve stress for generations due to signs that stress can have life-altering consequences, from heart disease to a weakened immune system.

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In an interview with Fox News Digital, NatGeo contributor Yudhijit Bhattacharjee shared details about his research — noting that “stress is all around us.”

“Stress permeates our lives,” he said. “Stress has some serious impacts on our health, our well-being, even how our brains function, how our immune systems function and so on.”

Since the coronavirus pandemic, Bhattacharjee, who’s based in Takoma Park, Maryland, said it’s become “clear” that social isolation is a “big contributor to stress.”

“When we’re significantly stressed, we’re more susceptible to viruses and germs.”

“In the last 10 to 15 years, there’s been a lot more research on precisely how stress affects us,” he said. “We didn’t know, for example, as clearly as we do now, that stress often plays havoc with our immune system.” 

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“When we’re significantly stressed, we’re more susceptible to viruses and germs … and in this post-COVID world, this is definitely very relevant.”

Bhattacharjee’s research also examined how stress can affect adolescents and children.

Aniko Korosi, a researcher at the University of Amsterdam, told NatGeo, “Chronic stress in early life has more serious and lasting effects, because that’s when a lot of connections are being laid down in the brain.”

Experts have discovered, according to Bhattacharjee, that high stress can impede the development of a child’s brain.

“Not much attention has been paid to the impact of stress on babies,” he said. “The stress that parents experience in trying to earn a livelihood, keep a roof over their heads — all of that stress ends up kind of transmitting to their children.” 

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“And while the adults can probably cope with the stress and their brains are already fully formed, it’s the children who are going to end up paying a price that lasts their entire lives.”

Bhattacharjee said NatGeo’s campaign is “drawing attention” to what stress is doing to our bodies and our children, as well as advocating for people to “try out their preferred ways of de-stressing.”

Teaching meditation to people at a young age could make a “big contribution” to society, said a National Geographic contributor (not pictured).  (iStock)

Meditation — a well-known method of de-stressing — has been embraced more openly by the public and is even being introduced to children in schools, NatGeo reported. 

Bhattacharjee assumed that programs like these could make a “big contribution” to society by changing “how humanity responds to day-to-day stress.”

“Scientists are learning exactly how meditation ends up helping to reduce stress and thereby helps to control some of the ill effects of stress,” he said.

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Bhattacharjee considered other activities to be “meditative” in their ability to control stress, such as playing a sport, singing karaoke, spending time with a pet or going for a walk.

“Meditation is kind of a catchall word for a number of contemplative practices and many of them focus on paying attention to one’s breath and one’s thoughts,” he said.

“I think we need to spend some time just with ourselves feeling bored in order to increase our well-being,” said one expert.  (iStock)

The NatGeo contributor said many people today are living in a “frenetic social media environment” while surrounded by issues ranging from environmental to political — making it an opportune time to pay attention to our stress levels and learn how to calm them.

“This constant seeking of stimulation, this addiction to stimulation, is contributing to the stress,” he said. 

“[Scrolling is] probably not helping … even if you think that it will entertain you. Maybe that’s just adding to our stress load.”

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He added, “I think we need to spend some time just with ourselves feeling bored in order to increase our well-being.”

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• For those who do not enjoy working out in a gym, choosing to exercise outdoors can make a great alternative.
• To get started, build on what you enjoy. If that is hiking or biking, take longer walks and rides until you’re comfortable being active for about 45 minutes.
• To stay motivated and consistent, it can be helpful to recruit an exercise buddy and get appropriate clothing that will keep you warm and dry in inclement weather.

Between the sweat smell, fluorescent lights and omnipresent television screens, April Herring has never connected with going to the gym.

Instead, she runs, bikes, hikes, plays tennis, pickleball and football — anything to get her exercise outside as often as possible.

“Fresh air, sunshine, the variety of the trees as the seasons change,” said Herring, an administrator at Carroll Community College in North Maryland. “There’s something about the energetic healing quality of nature.”

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The health benefits of spending time in nature have long been established, and exercise in general, of course, improves physical and mental well-being.

Combine the two and you double down on what adults need to stay healthy, said Debbie Rhea, professor in kinesiology at Texas Christian University.

“We’ve got to get outside. We’ve got to be active,” Rhea said. “If we’re going to live long lives, this is what it’s about.”

Getting started on an outdoor routine, however, might not be as easy as signing up for another gym membership. Here’s how to get going.

START SIMPLE WITH WHAT YOU LIKE

If you haven’t been active for a while, think back to the activities you enjoyed years ago, suggested Connie Sciolino, founder of the Alpine Training Center in Boulder, Colorado, a gym that trains athletes for outdoor mountain sports.

People who like occasionally hiking or biking should start building an aerobic base by taking progressively longer walks or rides. Once you’re comfortably in the 35- to 45-minute range, start adding some intensity to build strength, she said.

“If jogging is their main activity, I would send them to the bleachers or do some up-down on stairs, either in sprint format or put a pack on their back,” she said.

Rhea cautioned against jumping back into a sport you used to play without preparing your body for the proper movement.

“Let’s say they’re in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and they haven’t sprinted and now they try to run around those bases,” she said. “They’re probably going to hurt an Achilles or a hamstring or something by doing something too fast.”

THEN BUILD STRENGTH WITH WHAT’S AROUND

A side benefit of exercising outside is that there’s no need to buy expensive equipment, trainers say.

After warming up with your preferred aerobic activity, add strength training by using your body weight and what is available in the built environment. That could be finding a picnic table or low wall and placing your hands shoulder-width apart to do leaning pushups. Then turn around, put your hands on the same surface and lower your body for dips that work your triceps.

For working your legs, add squats with your feet shoulder-width apart, looking straight ahead with your back straight. Add lunges by taking giant steps and bending down into the space between your feet. For the core, find a patch of grass to do sit-ups.

Start with eight to 10 repetitions, or no more than you are comfortable with, and add sets with short breaks in between as you get stronger.

For a more complete workout, find a park or trail with outdoor exercise equipment, which is installed in one-third of park agencies, according to the National Recreation and Park Association. The equipment can range from basic pull-up bars to gym-style bench presses and rowing machines.

And many cities, including Chicago, San Antonio and Atlanta, offer free group classes outdoors.

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When it inevitably rains or the weather turns colder, it helps to keep in mind an old axiom: There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.

“If we have the clothing for whatever the temperatures are that we may be in, then we’re more likely to go outside to be active when we need to,” Rhea said.

She suggested investing in a jacket that breathes and a light hat with a brim you can use on sunny or rainy days.

Trainer Katie Higginbotham recommended having a contingency plan for inclement weather. Pick an area with surfaces that won’t get slippery when wet or somewhere with some tree shelter so as not to be bombarded by rain.

On those days, having a regular exercise buddy really helps, said Higginbotham, who oversees quality control for TrainFitness, a U.K.-based private training provider.

“If you know someone is there waiting for you, it’s difficult to say no at the last minute,” she said.

Finally, it helps to set a goal, whether that is training for a 5K charity walk or a triathlon. If you’re working toward something, it keeps you motivated to keep going, Sciolino said.

“When you have that day marked on your calendar, you have to perform these things or die out there,” she said.