Summer is finally here, bringing some natural health boosters with it!
We’re in the midst of June, and in the midst of National Great Outdoors Month. President Clinton’s administration was the first to issue a national proclamation to endorse the Great Outdoors. His National Great Outdoors week became National Great Outdoors Month, with each President backing their annual proclamations. This year, President Obama and all the governors of the United States issued proclamations instituting June as the month to get off the couch and get outside. Many of us have been confined to the insides of our homes due to the harsh winter, but summer is finally here. Gone are the days of colds and the flu… or sickness in general! Summer doesn’t only bring nice weather, but it gives us the ability to be healthier. Here are a few ways the great outdoors can help your mind and body.
Experiencing the great outdoors can…
Make you happier
Light has proven to be an effective treatment of moodiness, and there is no place with more natural light than the great outdoors! Being outside also promotes exercise. The outdoors calls for fun, activity, and enjoying life, while the indoors causes a more stationary lifestyle. A person who exercises regularly is a generally happier person due to the chemical reactions in the body.
Increase productivity, concentration, and positivity
Not only do nature and the activity involved with the outdoors help with happiness, but they could be beneficial in other aspects of your life. Due to the lightened mood that the great outdoors gives you, regular activity and going outside cause you to sleep more soundly, therefore helping you to be more attentive and alert the next day. Gone are the cycles of doing nothing for days on end, get outside and you’ll have the energy to do those tasks you have been putting off all winter.
Lessen the likelihood of illness
Sunlight is one of the biggest contributors of Vitamin D to the human body. Vitamin D aids the body in calcium absorption, therefore making bones and teeth stronger and less likely to crack or completely break. It also helps fight off many diseases from the flu to cancer, making Vitamin D valuable in any lifestyle. Help Vitamin D help you! Get outside!
Bring a quicker recovery
Studies have shown that patients recovering from major illness or surgery recover quicker, and feel better throughout their recovery, if they are exposed to, or even glimpse, outside. Their mood is lifted, causing them to be better patients, and their pain is eased by the body’s response to natural light and the Vitamin D that is absorbed.
Help your eyesight
When inside, we spend our time focusing on small spaces, whether this focus in on a television screen, computer monitor, a book, newspaper, or a tablet. Our eyes, like other muscles in our body, need to be able to focus (flex) or relax to keep them healthy and strong. When outside, your eyes are forced to take in much more than inside because you are trying to take in all of your surroundings, causing them to contract or relax depending on your focal point. This relaxes over stimulated eyes, and can help in distance vision.
It’s a time to wake up from hibernation and experience the beauty of nature around us. Don’t be like other individuals who believe National Geographic and Animal Planet substitute for going outside. Grab your friends, family, and neighbors and go outside! You will get create memories that last a lifetime, while making yourself healthier at the same time.