Your health isn’t just about what shows on your insurance records; it encompasses daily habits and activities that help balance your body and mind. The food you eat, how you move your body, and the people you surround yourself with all play a vital role in your health. One significant aspect to consider is your environment.
Think back to a time when you felt stressed or overwhelmed. Perhaps you were sitting indoors on your computer or at work. After stepping outside for just five or ten minutes to breathe in some fresh air or to spend quality time with loved ones, did you notice how different you felt?
That’s the influence of your environment. It consists of both the outdoors and the company you keep. Making time to be outside is one of the most impactful habits you can adopt to support your health. The world around you significantly affects how you feel daily. Explore how your environment can positively impact your health and consider ways to enhance it.
Health Benefits of Being Outside
Exploring your environment promotes an active and healthy lifestyle. Spending time outdoors often involves physical activity, but you can still reap benefits even while sitting on your balcony or front porch.
Physical Health
Our bodies are designed to spend time outside, and numerous studies show just how beneficial outdoor activities are for our health. Here are a few ways being outdoors can support your physical well-being:
Support Heart Health
Cardiovascular disease affects many people annually, but many cases are preventable through lifestyle changes. Being outside helps support your heart health by promoting physical activity, which in turn lowers cholesterol and blood pressure while improving circulation. One study found that adults who spent just thirty minutes in green spaces each week had a reduced risk of high blood pressure.
Better Sleep Quality
Sleep is crucial for a balanced routine and impacts various aspects of your health, including hormones, cardiovascular health, and the immune system. Exposure to sunlight helps regulate your circadian rhythm—the body’s internal clock that indicates when to sleep and wake. Spending time outdoors can improve sleep quality and may help you fall asleep earlier.
Improved Immune System
Humans thrive when immersed in nature. Going outside may also enhance your immune system. Your immune system defends against harmful substances like bacteria and viruses. Research indicates that inhaling certain airborne microbes from plants can boost your immune response. These microbes, known as phytoncides, possess antibacterial and antifungal properties that support your immune system.
Mental Health
Your environment not only supports your physical health but also contributes to your mental and emotional well-being.
It can be challenging to engage in healthy behaviors when feeling stressed. However, taking care of yourself, particularly by going outside, is one of the quickest ways to alleviate stress.
Cortisol, a hormone released during stressful times, can accumulate if you’re constantly under pressure. Research shows that after just twenty minutes in nature, your cortisol levels may drop, helping to reduce your stress.
Reduced Symptoms of Depression
If you struggle with depression or its symptoms, spending time outdoors can help you feel more balanced. Much of this positive effect is attributed to sunlight. Studies indicate that light therapy can help treat seasonal and major depression due to its role in vitamin D production and sleep improvement. Even on cloudy days, being outdoors can enhance your mood. Individuals with depression often notice a reduction in symptoms within two to five weeks of increased outdoor activity.
Increased Focus
If you have an important task to complete at work or school, going outside may boost your focus. One study compared two groups of people who were asked to perform a task that required concentration, like a math test. During breaks, one group spent time in an outdoor park while the other stayed on a busy street.
The difference in their environments illustrates how being outside can significantly impact your mental clarity and focus.
How to spend more time outside
No matter where you live or your lifestyle, there are always ways to spend more time in your environment. You have to be realistic and make it work for you. What’s most important is finding ways to be outside that you can make a habit of so it becomes part of your lifestyle.
Here are some ways you can start spending more time outside:
Start small
You don’t have to be a backpacker or wilderness explorer to enjoy the benefits of being outdoors. Spending time in your environment shouldn’t be intimidating. By starting small you can begin to notice how good you feel when you spend time outdoors and then go from there.
Some ways to start small are by going for a ten-minute walk on your lunch break, eating outside if you have a yard or porch, and going to a park or the beach one evening to break up your normal routine.
Join a meet-up
Exploring your environment is an opportunity to meet new people and connect with your community. Check online or on any local forums if you have any outdoor meetups near you. This could be a hiking group, bird-watching group, or yoga in the park. There are so many options!
You can even make your meet-up by inviting friends and family to do an outdoor activity that would be fun for everyone.
Try something new
Setting the goal to explore your environment lets you try new things. You may want to try a new hobby that involves being outdoors or explore a new place, there are so many options.
Think about an outdoor activity that you’ve always wanted to try, are you able to do that? If you need some ideas, here are a few more activities you can try:
- Bike riding
- Reading in a park
- Hiking
- Swimming in a body of water or outdoor pool
- Stargazing
Make a list
If you don’t have anywhere in mind it can help to make a list of places you can easily go to when you’d like to spend time outdoors. Try to include ones you can get to in a short time like your neighborhood park and places you may want to take a day trip to or a longer excursion.
You can look on Maps on your phone to find nearby green spaces to see what options you have near you. This can be fun and help inspire you to explore places you may not have gone to otherwise.
Make a habit
As you find more ways to explore your environment, note how you feel when you’re outside and what is enjoyable for you. Being outside is essential for your health, so find ways to do it that are enjoyable for you. When you enjoy something, it’s easier to form a habit that you keep doing.
Looking around at your environment
Spending time outside and immersed in nature is great for your health. Another element of your environment is who and what surrounds you. The people, things, and places around you all impact your beliefs and values, and thus your overall life.
American entrepreneur and author Jim Rohn teaches that “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Your community can inspire, support, and lift you. On the other hand, they can also bring you down if they’re not the right fit for you. Being aware of how the people in your life affect you is the first step in being proactive about changing your social environment.
The reality is that you can’t always control your environment. What you can change are your reactions. Establishing boundaries, building resilience, and practicing self-care help you to strengthen so you can better control how you react to your environment.
Being aware of your environment and how it affects you is one of the most important ways to care for yourself.
