Doctors and health experts generally advice people of all ages to spend quality time outdoors. It helps improve mood, mental and physical health as well as reduce heart rate, blood pressure and stress. Whether you are digging garden weeds, running or walking being outside can help improve overall well-being. You should spend more time in green spaces as it can boost happiness and health.
Sensory experience
Spending time outdoors anchors you in the current moment allowing you to feel grounded, connected. You can imagine yourself to be a part of a much bigger world. You can get to enjoy the nature around, its benefits, thereby stimulating your serotonin secretion and promoting circadian rhythm. It also elevates your mood, lower your cortisol levels while deriving pleasant colors and biophilic patterns to focus upon.
Why it is necessary to spend time outdoors?
Performing various types of physical exercises helps release brain chemicals like endorphins. This, in turn, boosts your moods and relieves discomfort. Your health also can enjoy wonders as you reconnect with nature. Studies revealed that exposure to the open sky, trees and bird song can benefit psychological health. It takes very less time to derive the benefits. Spending even 10 minutes in any natural setting is sure to make you happier while reducing mental and physical stress significantly.
Japanese concept
The Japanese ancient tradition promotes ‘forest bathing’ that requires spending quiet, calm time amongst the trees. The West seems to have adopted this method in recent years. In Japan, this simple method is termed as ‘shinrin yoku’. It involves observing nature that surrounds you and take deep breathes. Thus, you can get de-stressed naturally.
Visiting gardens
Spending time in the garden or backyard or taking a stroll in the park can prove to be therapeutic. Surveys revealed that visiting the garden will have a positive impact upon people’s overall mental being. It also boosts your creativity.
Moment of calm
It is a known fact that being outside helps you to feel calmer and feel reduced stress. This impacts significantly your well-being. Some theories state that trees release specific phytoncides an airborne chemical. When breathed, it functions like aromatherapy and boosts the immune system. It also offers that mindfulness effect. You are likely to pay more attention to your immediate surroundings, especially if in a pleasant, green place. You start to focus on the greenery around rather than delving on worries and other issues of life and work.
Even the simple act of going outdoors from indoors allows you to experience fresh air. You are likely to forget your concerns of worries as you get to view the wider world. You can simply move out of your over-thinking and emotional mental life while connecting with your body. You also tend to change your sense of well-being and perspective knowing a bigger world being present out there. This world is in fact much bigger than your inner tough world. Thus, you get to shift your introspection.
Tips to spend quality time outdoors
Unfortunately, not many have access to private gardens or backyards to enjoy their free time. This is more so with those staying apartments in big cities where space is limited and polluted. However, there are some ways by which you can spend time to enjoy the beautiful nature outside.
Go walking
You can go for a walk in a park near your home or office. This is indeed a wonderful way to feel fresh, exercise your body and gain benefits derived from spending time outdoors. If your area lacks a park, try to find routes nearby that allow you to walk through trees, green spaces and flowers. As you wander, you need to be present there mentally and leave all your worries behind. During your lunch break, you may take a short walk that can help boost your mood.
Gardening
This is indeed an interesting and exciting hobby to pursue. Seeing seeds developing in flowering plants is sure to provide you with lots of pleasure, happiness and immense satisfaction. Besides this, it can be termed to be an in-depth mindful activity. You have to focus while doing it and be there mentally, thus forgetting your stress and worries of life and work at least momentarily. Cultivating different types of plants can prove to be a creative outlet, thereby offering satisfaction as well as a rewarding experience. You can do gardening in your community garden or back garden. If there is lack of space, then why not use plastic pots that are easily available and place them on the window sills.
Studies have shown that humans have evolved naturally spend quality time being in green spaces. It is understood that humans work best when close to nature. Thus, gardening will mean you have to spend some time close to nature physically. Perhaps, it can be your ultimate ‘grounding’ activity. Being out in the open on your own also makes you feel safe and happy. You will feel that your anxiety and worries are removed.
Community gardening club
Outdoor space is a rarity in big cities. Hence, people residing in rented accommodations do not have much green space to move about. Even the nearest park or green space may be miles away. In such a case, you should find out if there is any community gardening club in your locality or nearby area. They are local horticulture groups that do offer you the option to be part of nature and get engaged in gardening. Such clubs are created with the intention to offer the benefits of being near nature. It also provides you with a better platform by imparting new skills and increases your confidence.
Enjoy the health benefits
By spending time outside in the greenery, you can live close to nature and derive diverse health benefits. You can enjoy experiencing reduced risks of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stress and premature death. A few researches also have suggested that spending time in any green space can keep at bay psychiatric disorders.
