I just love being outdoors, and walking is one of my favourite past times. It can be better than medicine with all the benefits it brings. I know that when I go outside, I feel instantly happier.
Walking in the fields near me boosts my physical, mental, emotional and spiritual self. Just being outside, breathing that cleaner, fresher air and seeing the beauty around me is great. However, this wellbeing I feel, is scientific as well.
Being stressed or anxious, angry or depressed are some of the conditions that being outside in nature can help. The rhythmic action of walking is naturally calming, and we are soothed by the sound of the wind in the grass and trees, or the movement of the clouds above us. If we walk by water, we tune in to the noise of its flow or watch the way sunlight dapples off it and we are breathing a little easier. Even the singing of birds is known to relieve some of the stress that we feel.
Exercise is known to produce endorphins, and these make us feel a little happier. Over time, this builds up and it has been said that this can help people who feel sad or have depression.
The more we walk, the more our bodies like it. Our metabolic rate rises to make the walking even more beneficial as it can help reduce heart disease, as well as improving the condition of our skin and improving our fitness levels too. As time moves on, we find we can walk further and faster.
As this happens, our self esteem rises. We see the benefits in our bodies, and we feel better. This makes us feel like we are achieving something good, which we are.
Added to this, we get sunshine happiness too. Sunshine produces vitamin D which is vital for our health and a vitamin many adults are deficient in. Vitamin D is essential to keep our bones strong and healthy and it strengthens our immune system too. This in turn affects our moods and eases away some of the fears and worries we may face.
Our sleep also improves. The sunlight helps us produce melatonin at night which regulates sleep. Our sleep is a better quality. The exercise also tires us out more so that at bedtime, we fall asleep quicker as we are more naturally tired, in a healthy way.
There are many other benefits. Being away from the usual pressures of life, and the many electronic screens that demand our time, can give us a break; this can restore our minds and help us to focus better, when we return to everyday life later.
The walk can give us necessary space to reflect and process thoughts, helping us to find solutions to problems or ways to proceed when we could not find them before.
There have even been studies that say our memory can improve and our eyesight can be helped as we focus on further away objects to help long distance sight.
The wide open spaces and the beauty around us, help us to feel we belong to something bigger than just us and this takes our minds away from ourselves for just a moment.
So walking outside can be extremely beneficial to us, promoting feelings of happiness, peace and optimism, until we find we feel a little bit better than we did before.
