Spending time in nature is a great way to keep your balance.
Not only that, but getting outdoors is good for your mental and physical health.
Japanese researchers have studied the benefits of “forest bathing,” which is a poetic way to say “a walk in the woods.”
Time outdoors can decrease your blood pressure and stress hormone levels, reduce your anxiety, and improve your mood.
Just two hours a week outside can help, even if it’s just lying on a blanket in the park, sitting on a bench under a beautiful tree, or making snow angels.
In fact, it’s more about how you spend the time outside than what you do outside.
Try to savor the outside experience with all your senses rather than just taking in nature’s beauty with your eyes.
- Sniff the air for the fragrance of honeysuckle along the fence.
- Listen for the sound of a squirrel scurrying up a tree.
- Touch the grass with the tips of your toes.
- Taste water from a clean running stream.
Also, search for nature pop-ups: those little surprises that make time in nature exciting and joyful.
- A flower in bloom, a tightly wound fern fiddlehead, the flicker of light from a puddle, or a mound of snow.
