Sure, the calendar says March, but it’s Indiana and that means spring will arrive when it’s good and ready.

You’re eager to shed those winter sweaters and boots no matter what the weather is outside.

Enough of comfort food and cocooning, it’s time to get out and get moving, whether it’s a day trip to your favorite park, a walk around a lake, exploring a museum or playing golf.

With spring break just around the corner, now is the perfect time to re-focus and re-energize.

Whether short or long, a true vacation is one that provides relaxation and catharsis from those obligations of life and work.

Two professors at Indiana University’s Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies say taking the right kind of break provides a huge mental health boost.

Professor Alan Ewert pointed to the Attention Restoration Theory, which found that, “if you get outdoors for even short periods of time, it works to clear your mind and improve cognitive thinking. Being away from normal everyday life and doing something you like to do or find interesting. This idea has been used for stress reduction academic achievement and workplace pressure and it forms the basis of the whole idea of vacation.”

The ideal vacation allows a person to disconnect from all the things perceived as stress-producers. In other words, put down the Blackberry—or at least don’t try to answer the dozens of work e-mails.

Tune in, turn it all off; it’s called a respite for a reason.

Department chair and professor David M. Compton said to fully enjoy a much-needed—and necessary—relief from the routine, have an idea in mind. The way to relaxation is not the same for everyone.

Tranquil? Then head for the beach.

Adventure? Maybe whitewater rafting is the answer.

“Whatever (you) choose, the goal is to become refreshed but not burdened,” Compton said. “To completely divorce yourself from life’s requirements, you have to put yourself in a position where you are able to be refreshed.”

Ewert said people seeking a break shouldn’t overlook the power of heading outdoors, even if it means staying close to home.

“If people just look at a natural scene, they experience a kind of relaxation We have past research that suggests that hospital patients recover faster if they have a window that overlooks a natural scene. There’s evidence that natural views from your house result in greater feelings of peace. The brain needs a mechanism for stress release. Depression, ADD and memory reduction all seem to be improved from engagement from some type of outdoor setting,” he said. “My theory is take a park, not a pill.”