Amazing Benefits of the Outdoors #MondayMusings

With the dawn of the internet era, most people prefer to stay in all the time. But spending time outdoors is still best for you. You don’t have to spend a lot too to enjoy your time outside or enjoy the amazing benefits of the outdoors.

Amazing benefits of the outdoors

Good for your eyes

Spending too much time looking at your monitor screen can strain your eyes. Going outside and especially looking at the greenery can help relax your eyes.

Vitamin D

Although Vitamin D can be found in fatty fish, dairy products, or liver, the best source of Vitamin D is still sunlight. Get your recommended dose of Vitamin D but basking in the sun outside.

Exercise

You can sit on a park bench and just relax and enjoy looking at people passing by. But when you’re outdoors, you’ll most probably be tempted to go around. Whether you’re just strolling alone, walking your dog, or running, the outdoors is the best place for a much needed exercise.

Mood-booster

When you work out, you instantly feel a boost in your mood. Or when you just go out and see how magnificent the world is, you feel happier. Your sense of wonder improves your mood, makes you more curious, and satiating that curiosity is even more gratifying.

“I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least — and it is commonly more than that — sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements. ” – Henry David Thoreau, in his essay Walking.

Better health

Consequently, the health benefits of doing outdoor activities improve your physical health incredibly. Studies show people exposed to more sunlight after surgery used 22 per cent less pain medication per hour. According to Biopsychosocial Medicine, “The healing power of nature has traditionally been defined as an internal healing response designed to restore health.”

Boost creativity

Another surprising and amazing benefit of the outdoors is that it helps boost our creativity. David Strayer, Ph.D., a professor of Cognition and Neural Science at the University of Utah, discovered that a mere four days backpacking in nature improved people’s creativity by 50%.

Biological clocks reset

Did you know that even when the sun is not out, there is an amazing effect of going outdoors? The American Medical Association discovered that dark skies at night are conducive to the natural functioning of our body’s biological clock which is set by the nocturnal release of the hormone melatonin.

This is the healing way of Shinrin-yoku Forest Therapy, the medicine of simply being in the forest. Shinrin-yoku is a term that means “taking in the forest atmosphere” or “forest bathing.” It was developed in Japan during the 1980s and has become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine.

Educational

One of the best ways to learn new things is through traveling. When you travel, you learn different cultures and new languages, you discover history and geography, and you deal closely with nature and observe things even schools fail to teach. Needless to say, going outside makes you smarter and wiser.

You don’t need a huge amount of money to enjoy your time outside. A little creativity goes a long way. So go pack your bag and enjoy the amazing benefits of the outdoors yourself.

 

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