I have to admit, I’m the person who loves spending time outside. Whether it’s walking at the park or driving to a local lake to take a look at the birds, I enjoy it. I’m an outdoors-y person. Some people would go on a camping trip and think, well I’m not doing that again, and I’m busy planning my next trip. You get the idea.

I find the forest calming. I remember coming back from a camping trip years ago and thinking to myself, why are these walls so *bright*? I was so used to the greenery in the forest. My walls at home took some getting used to!

The good news about getting outside is this- green spaces can help lower heart rate and lower your chances of diabetes and death from cardiovascular causes (Twohig-Bennett & Jones, 2018).

Other potential benefits exist in relation to time spent in nature and mental health.

While it might not be easy (or desirable!) to get to the state park, there are local parks and play areas that can fill in the gap. While more research needs to be done, it may help to spend at least 2 hours over the course of the week in green spaces (White et al., 2019). If it works out better for you to spend a whole morning on a hike, that is okay! Or maybe you find that 30 minutes every day on your local rails-to-trails fits your schedule. Perhaps you enjoy both. However you work it in, get outside this week when you can! Your body and mind will thank you for it.

References:

Twohig-Bennett,C. & Jones, A. (2018). The health benefits of the great outdoors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of greenspace exposure and health outcomes, Environmental Research, Volume 166, Pages 628-637. 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.06.030. 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935118303323.
White, M.P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J. et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Sci Rep 9, 7730 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3