Improve Your Health – Spend More Time Outdoors!

Boost Your Health

It has been proved by researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School that sitting in nature and taking in the views of your surroundings, and the fresh air, all has a profound effect on your wellbeing as it can have major health benefits. The physical and mental rewards that one acquires after integrating the outside into their weekly routine have never been faulted, but the research conducted just re-emphasises these facts.

By incorporating just two hours into your weekly routine will produce results. In todays society the majority of the population spend the majority of their days indoors, sitting behind a desk staring at a computer screen all day, then return to their home to sit in front of the television for the rest of the evening. This way of living is not a particular healthy one and is not particularly beneficial to humans.

However, research suggests that we can improve upon this by experiencing the great outdoors, in fact it is an important aspect of daily living that everyone should incorporate to their lifestyle to improve their overall health. The idea is not to spend two straight hours outside but to divide up the time each day, spread your outdoor doses evenly throughout the week by partaking in outdoor activities such as going to the park for a walk, going to the beach, maybe even the park, the possibilities are endless.

The study that was conducted shows that those who spent more time outdoors were more likely to report good health and quality of life, which is a key indicator of wellbeing. It is important to note that spending more time outside does not mean that you have to be exercising when doing so, even just sitting in the sun will get the job done.

Do you suffer from short-term memory loss?

Nature walks are a sure way to fix this problem – some studies have shown that nature walks have more profound effects on memory that other walks. This stems from a study conducted in University of Michigan where a number of students were given a brief memory test and then divided into two separate groups.

The first group went for a walk in nature, and the other went a walk down a city street. Upon returning from both walks the students took the same brief memory test again, those who had walked amongst nature had a significantly better result than they had the first time, whereas the students who walked down the city street result did not significantly improve.

De-Stress in the Great Outdoors

Spending more time outside has the ability to to alter the physical expression of stress that can be held within the body. It has been proven that spending more time outdoors doing activities such as camping can lower stress levels compared to spending time in a busy city. It decreases your heart rate and levels of cortisol – a hormone that is used as a marker for stress.