It’s not anything new that fresh air and the great outdoors are incredibly beneficial to our mental and physical health, but you may be left wondering about all the details surrounding the benefits of being outside, or maybe you are just keen to find new ways you can utilize the great outdoors and really gain the best possible benefits when being in nature.
Mental Health
Let’s start with how nature can boost the happy hormones and make you feel a whole lot better mentally. As we are slowly but surely coming out of the colder months and the spring flowers have already started to say hello it can be a lot easier to want to get outside. With the sun starting to be more of a permanent fixture, it doesn’t take too much willpower to want to get out and explore. That being said it still can be difficult to find the motivation to get fresh air, that’s why knowing some key facts as to why the outdoors is so good for you is really useful. Getting outside is a great distraction/ escape from some of life’s stressful moments, when you have a lot going on up there it’s important to find things that seem like a little escape. One of those things is walking! Walking helps boost your mood because it increases blood flow and blood circulation to the brain and body. It has a positive influence on your central nervous response system, and we all know what they say about everything starts from within, if your inside is happy then theoretically you will be too. Not only does it feel good to get outside but it can also give you a really strong purpose. Knowing how important walking, and just generally being outside is will give you that push to take some time out of your day to do that for you. And of course, not forgetting our furry friends who will thank you, even more, when you take them with you and seeing their little waggy tails will definitely put a smile on your face.
Physical Health
Whether it is walking, running, hiking, or cycling the activities you can do outside are endless and are all extremely good for you. Let’s start with some facts about walking, walking is a fairly low impact activity compared to running, it gets your heart rate pumping without putting too much strain on your body. Walking is also great if you don’t have much time to work out or if you’re not a fan of the gym. Apparently, 30 minutes is all you need of walking a day to get the best health benefits, the fact that it’s not too long also means you won’t find it daunting and being outside usually makes the time fly by anyway. Surprisingly the outdoors helps your vision! Going outside can do so much good for the health of your eyes. People who suffer from Computer Vision Syndrome, a problem caused by staring at computers, tablets, and smartphones for long periods of time, may find that spending time outdoors can alleviate blurred and double vision, red eyes, and headaches. And of course, walking is good for weight loss and weight maintenance.
A New Hobby
The great outdoors offers endless opportunities to take up new hobbies from hiking to photography you will be sure to find something that suits you that including being in the beauty of nature. Let’s start with hiking, it’s cost-effective fun and can become a great way to build a community and make friends. There are often local groups that all go on hikes together and meet up regularly to discover the beautiful landscapes around us and make friends. The great thing about this is that it can become a passion and before you know it you’ll be outdoors more than you’re indoors. When we think of being outdoors, we often do think about walking through woods and getting muddy but, there are so many things you can do that require far less effort but achieve just as much satisfaction. For example, photography! The great thing about photography is that you can pretty much start anywhere, if you have a passion for capturing things and love the beauty that nature provides us, why not turn that into a hobby and new passion. Outdoors is a photographer’s endless canvas, the things you can capture from just being outside are unbelievable. From birds to bees or even leaves and trees, there is defiantly something you will see, fall in love with and you would have already started a new hobby.
Family
There’s nothing better than family days out outdoors! Whether it’s sunny picnics or jumping in muddy puddles there’s something so special about spending a day outdoors with the whole family. It’s no secret that little ones love running around, exploring, and getting muddy. There are so many elements to the outdoors that you can take full advantage of. A classic family trip in the outdoors like camping is the perfect way to introduce little ones to nature and make a weekend of fun staying in a cosy tent, and if you really want to take it up a level you could even try glamping and try staying in a yurt! There are plenty of places you can stay including our beautiful Bewl Water. We have our cosy yurts and of course space for camping when the camping season starts on 1st May 2022. Yurts and camping is the perfect family bonding activity, it lets you be within nature with the reassurance that our wonderful team are there if you need them. Not only is the actual camping fun but during the day you can go on walks and adventures around Bewl Water. If camping really isn’t your thing, then of course there are plenty of days out that you can do with the whole family that do require spending the night in a tent. How about a simple yet effective summery day out with a picnic! Take it right back and go old school pack a picnic, find a beautiful spot outdoors and enjoy some family time in the spring sunshine.
To Learn
Finally, an important reason to spend more time outside is to widen your knowledge. The great outdoors has so many things and elements that we can all learn about from the beautiful wildlife to even the environment we are surrounded by so many things that we could learn even more about. Being outside and within woodlands and nature will give you a better understanding of nature and you start to see the benefits of it within yourself. So, put your walking boots on and pack the snacks for the perfect adventure in nature.