Mind-Body-Nature Connection

When we stop frequenting our favorite hikes, streams, rivers, lakes and outdoor destinations, our minds are not nearly as sharp nor are our spirits as alive.

Richard Markosian

August 10, 2021

There is more hidden news this year than we can possibly report. But we choose to focus on the mountains and nature. The truth is that many of us are lost when we don’t find ourselves in the mountains connected with nature.

When we stop frequenting our favorite hikes, streams, rivers, lakes and outdoor destinations, our minds are not nearly as sharp nor are our spirits as alive.

What is it that makes so many of us require our time spent in nature? And why is it so common among those afflicted with severe depression, anxiety, PTSD and psychological ailments who don’t spend time in nature?

If we consider our collective time as hominids roaming this planet for 20 million years developing and evolving — learning how to make fire, then learning how to burn a giant edifice of a man in the desert in a temporary city. How much of this time were we roaming around foraging and sleeping mostly in nature among the flora and fauna?

The answer is around 19 million 998,000 years. Considering this, we have all been yanked out of being intimately connected with our surroundings and placed into a world where we compete in our concrete jungle for pay raises and promotions rather than food and shelter. Could this be why so many of us suffer from depression?

Certainly, our lives and our world are far better and friendlier than they have ever been before. Our standard of living and our ability to obtain food is better and easier than ever before, but spending time in the mountains, especially on remote trails, we are reminded that we have indeed forgotten something. We often feel more at home in “the outdoors” than we do in our stucco, concrete, and asphalt-shingled palaces in the suburbs.

Consider how we call everything away from our strange created cities “the outdoors” or “wilderness”. Isn’t this strange? After all, isn’t the wilderness more real, more permanent and far more significant than our created worlds with their freeways and office towers where we have buried the streams and silenced all nature into submission?

If this crazy hot summer has gotten you down, there is a solution: Get outside! Go away from the crowds. Get on a pathway where you can witness the incredible connection and connectivity of a wild ecosystem.

These ecosystems are far more intelligent and full of solutions than we ever realized until recently.

Subscribe to Utah Stories weekly newsletter and get our stories directly to your inbox

Go Local, Hidden Utah, Road Trips

nature, wellbeing

Richard Markosian

I am a story teller and journalist. I have a passion for farmers, local craftspeople, and folks who aspire to create, build and grow their business in the local marketplace. Why local? By supporting locally-owned businesses we create more opportunity for entrepreneurs, and we claim our sovereignty to shape our communities how we want to see them. I aspire to build Utah Stories Magazine into a household Utah name, and assist Utah businesses and makers with marketing. On the journalism side of things my passion is investigative journalism that offers true insight into issues. I believe strongly in the forth estate: strong, meaningful, insightful journalism is essential to a free market Democracy.

Go Local

Sugar House Restaurants on the Rise: New Spots Reshaping the Neighborhood

Sugar House is in the middle of a full-scale dining shift. Over the past two years, new openings, relocations, and rebrands have reshaped the neighborhood, bringing everything from shabu-shabu and Thai curries to steakhouse cocktails, food-hall energy, and century-old LA flavors. These additions are changing how locals eat, gather, and think about Sugar House as a dining destination.

To access this post, you must purchase Utah Stories (Digital + Print) or 3 month free trial (Digital).
Go Local

Utah Craft Whiskey: How Barrels and Utah’s Climate Shape Flavor

Utah’s craft whiskey scene is shaped by more than grain, yeast, and time. The state’s dry climate plays an unusually powerful role in how spirits age, intensifying the relationship between whiskey and the barrels that hold it.

Low humidity accelerates evaporation during aging, often claiming 14–18 percent of a barrel’s contents as the “angel’s share.” Unlike more humid regions where alcohol evaporates faster, Utah barrels tend to lose more water, concentrating flavor and driving proof upward over time. That accelerated interaction pulls sugars, tannins, and spice from the wood more quickly, creating whiskeys that often taste older and more structured than their age statements suggest.

To understand how Utah distillers are deliberately harnessing climate, char, and finishing barrels to shape flavor, two producers at the forefront of that experimentation — Sugar House Distillery and Spirits of the Wasatch — shared how barrel choices influence everything from sweetness and spice to texture and proof.

*The remainder of this article is available to Utah Stories subscribers and includes in-depth reporting from Utah distillers on barrel selection, aging techniques, and experimental finishes.

To access this post, you must purchase Utah Stories (Digital + Print) or 3 month free trial (Digital).
Community Relations

Are Tech Giants Becoming Our New Overlords?

As tech corporations grow larger than nations, their influence over our habits, beliefs, and daily lives only intensifies. This piece examines how corporate power shapes our choices—and why supporting local businesses may be the last real safeguard of personal autonomy.
Best of Utah

A Guide to Unique Local Shops Across Utah

From Park City to Moab and every town in between, Utah’s most distinctive local shops offer character, creativity, and a strong sense of place. Our contributors share the bookstores, cafés, boutiques, and hidden gems they return to again and again.