Benefits of Being Outdoor

Introduction

I’m not sure when this will be published. While I’m writing this, we are in Level 4 lockdown. This just means it’s hard for us to go outdoor and run our day-to-day tasks at the moment. But either way, once the lockdown is over I think it is a great time to change up our lifestyles and start fresh. If you have been locked up for a while, you may miss the outdoor. This is why we are going to encourage more people to go outdoors as it will improve both physical and mental health.

 

Boost your mental health!

Countless studies have shown that being outdoors is a great way to boost mental health. Some people even go as far as saying it’s ‘nature’s prescription’. Studies have shown that even just seeing a picture of nature can improve mood straight away. Ideally, go out and have a walk down the local park, this way you can also sneak in a little bit of exercise too. Some therapists now prescribe exploring nature as a medicine too and some even choose to have their sessions in a local park just to increase exposure. So being outdoor actually increases the production of two hormones; dopamine and endorphin. These two hormones are responsible for feeling good. Dopamine is triggered when getting a new reward, the reason why we release this when being outdoor is that our brain craves it and it needs to be satisfied! While endorphin is often released when going through physical movements.

 

Boost your physical health!

Going outdoor is great for physical health. Firstly, it encourages exercise and movement. We’ve already discussed the benefits of exercising already in our older blogs, so go check that out. Secondly, it helps reduce inflammation too. Inflammation is often a response when something goes wrong in your body. This is when white blood cells that are responsible for detecting and fending off foreign substances are active when something happens to our body. However, sometimes it can go into overdrive and this is when we start getting disorders such as autoimmune diseases, irritable bowel syndromes, and cancers.

 

Conclusion

If you are reading this when the lockdown is over, please go outside and enjoy nature. Even, if it’s not you are still allowed to go outside for a walk. Listen to the birds whistle, the insects singing (I’m not a bug fan myself), and feel the wind blowing and mostly enjoy the natural green surroundings. I can guarantee, you’ll instantly feel more refreshed!

 

 

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