12 Science Backed Reasons to spend more time outdoors!! The Terra Lifestyle!
1) Spending time outside will improve your physical and mental health.
- Spending time in forests, hiking in mountains, and just being outside can lead to significant health benefits.
- Studies have shown that walking in the woods can improve blood pressure, boost mental health, and decrease cancer risk.
- So go spend some time "forest-bathing" to improve your health.
Many people spend workdays indoors under fluorescent lights and in front of computers, then return home to bask in the glow of television screens. But research suggests it's important to make time to get outdoors as well, since doing so is beneficial — maybe essential — for human health. Psychologists and health researchers are finding more and more science-backed reasons we should go outside and enjoy the natural world.
In her book, "The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative," journalist Florence Williams writes that she started investigating the health benefits of nature after moving from the mountainous terrain of Boulder, Colorado, to what she describes as "the anti-Arcadia that is the nation's capital": Washington, DC.
"I felt disoriented, overwhelmed, depressed," she wrote. "My mind had trouble focusing. I couldn't finish thoughts. I couldn't make decisions and I wasn't keen to get out of bed."
We don't all need to move to beautiful places like Boulder — there are good reasons for many of us to live in bigger cities.
But humans do need to spend time in natural environments if they want to improve their physical and mental health. That could mean taking advantage of hiking trails near your home, playing in the snow, swimming in the ocean, or just spending time every week in a local park.
2) Being outdoors has a demonstrated de-stressing effect.
5) Outdoor experiences may help fight depression and anxiety.
Anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues may all be eased by some time in nature — especially when that's combined with exercise.
One study found that walks in the forest were associated with decreased levels of anxiety and bad moods, and another found that outdoor walks could be "useful clinically as a supplement to existing treatments" for major depressive disorder.
"Every green environment improved both self-esteem and mood," found an analysis of 10 earlier studies about so-called "green exercise." That review also indicated that "the mentally ill had one of the greatest self-esteem improvements."
The presence of water made the positive effects even stronger, the findings suggested.
6) Being outside may protect your vision.
At least in children, a fairly large body of research has found that outdoor activity may have a protective effect on the eyes and reduce the risk of developing nearsightedness (myopia).
"Increasing time spent outdoors may be a simple strategy by which to reduce the risk of developing myopia and its progression in children and adolescents," a 2012 review of the research concluded.
In Taiwan, researchers studied two nearby schools where myopia was equally common. They told one school to encourage outdoor activity during recess and monitored the other as a control. After one year, the rate of myopia in the control school was 17.65%; in the "play outside" school, it was just 8.41%.