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 Did you know... According to a recent study, The Nature of Americans, 75% of American adults said their interests in nature are among the most enjoyable things they do. But in the same study, over 60% of those same adults reported spending five or fewer hours per week outside in nature. That’s about 42 minutes a day doing their most enjoyable thing. (💔 This makes my heart so sad) Most of the 5,550 adults participating in the study from across the United States also were aware that exposure to nature is important to their physical and mental health, as well as fostering important community connections. Soooo, ✔️ nature makes them happy ✔️ nature makes them healthy 🤔 But they’re only spending 3% of their day outside. Why? For some, there’s the real life limitation of not having easy access.
Others blamed electronics as a major distraction keeping them indoors. It certainly is if the average person spends 116 minutes on social mediaeach day. This doesn’t even include other things on screens like watching Ted Lasso and scrolling through house porn on Zillow. But THE reason I found most fascinating was that “people were challenged by perceptions of shifting expectations about what ‘good’ or ‘normal’ connection to nature should even look and feel like.” --> Translation: People don’t know what to do outside. Of course, this is not their fault! As soon as adolescence smacks us upside the head, we’re told, or it’s implied, that wandering around in nature is a waste of time. “Stop playing around and get a job.” Thus we forget “good” or “normal” ways of being outside like just following sounds, making dandelion crowns, or skipping stones. So we stay inside. While I can teach oodles of unique practices to deeply root in nature, for right now, let’s see if we can double your outdoor minutes by doing things outside that you’d normally do inside. Below are 10 things you can start doing outside that will get you all the mental and physical health benefits of increasing your vitamin D, boosting your immune system, and serotonin levels. Try it this week: do these activities on your porch, in the backyard, or local park. 1) Enjoy your morning beverage 2) Eat a meal 3) Read a book 4) Meditate 5) Yoga / exercise 6) Journal 7) Nap (maybe don't do this one in a public park) 8) Get groceries from a farmers market 9) Watch an outdoor movie 10) Phone a friend The best part is that just relocating these common activities outside gives you immense health benefits while priming the pump for a greater desire to play outside. Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash |
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