Hoorah! Hooray! Springtime is here. We have spent a winter being blown about. We have been fighting frost and having layers applied for our layers that I thought that I was in Westeros.
Yet, finally, spring has sprung. It is time to start thinking of camping hiking and other outdoor activities. It is time for us to get outdoors again. Time to get our feet and hands dirty as we ready the gardens and our camping equipment.
It’s time to shake the dust and the chill off by getting ready to get outside. I know my goals are to get up and out more often. I have goals that will cause me to spend more time with fresh air in my lungs. In the summer, I will even have my sweat glands flush my system out a bit more because I am a sweaty type of person.
Why Outdoors?
Why so much talk about the outdoors? The reason is that I believe we belong outside. I am not an evolutionary believing type of person. Yet I do see and believe that we are doing ourselves a disservice by staying cooped up in the air conditioning in the summer and heating during the winter. It is actually good for us to break a sweat. Also getting outdoors is great for a natural leader. Being outside is good both mentally and physically.
Vitamin D
First, there is Vitamin D the sunshine vitamin. If you have a vitamin that your body produces by just being exposed to the sun, then I would think that vitamin is very important. Vitamin D is needed for calcium to be absorbed into your bones. This sunshine vitamin is also, what gives your energy and a positive look on life.
Yeah, you get vitamin D from milk but it is Enriched it doesn’t come naturally. It is not YOUR vitamin D. besides so many people have wrongly said that milk is bad for you that they have switched to plant-based milk substitutes. These again don’t have vitamin D and isn’t real milk.
Fresh air
Something happens to your mental state when you get a lung full of fresh outside air. Sadly, so many people think that the outdoors is so polluted that they don’t think the air is healthy. Yet our air has been getting cleaner each year since the late ’70s. At one time New York was known for its smog and pollution. Recently New York City’s mayor claimed that its air is the cleanest since before the industrial revolution. That’s pretty darn clean if you ask me.
So get up and out. Breathe as deeply as you do so. You may find yourself getting a bit dizzy but that is only your blood becoming highly oxygenated. The air isn’t going to kill you. You may cough a bit because the pollen is going to increase but Keep getting outside there is a good chance that your body will adapt to the pollen and your hay fever may start to dissipate.
Exercise
This goes without saying if you are outdoors, most likely you are going to be walking or moving your body in some way. This is has so many benefits to exercise especially to a creative person who has hit a block or wants their creative juices to keep flowing. The blood moving faster helps get oxygen to the places that need it the most. Walk, jog, moonwalk, whatever you would like, just get outdoors and see how much clearer you thinking becomes.
You meet people
This isn’t as bad as pop culture wants to think. There are many benefits to you getting out there and meeting new people. Yeah, there are strange folks out there but they are what make the world fun.
Yes, I get it there are bad people out there. You have been told stranger danger your whole life. Maybe you are riddled with anxiety and fear. All because there are so many dangerous people out there. Well, not as many as you would like to think. The vast majority of people are just like you. These people are just working stiffs trying to make a living for themselves and their families. They are not out to kill, rape, steal or tickle you till you pee your pants. They are doing what they can to survive in this world.
If you do take the time to expand you r network you just might be able to get that luck break you need. Maybe you don’t have to hard sell everybody. Maybe if you take the time to make a friend and know that your friends aren’t always going to be perfect you can get to know a person who knows a person who knows another person who can help you on your persona journey. So don’t knock the weirdos they can be helpful along with entertaining
It balances you.
You ever feel antsy, some people may even call it feeling anxious or anxiety. What if it is because you are not spending enough time with direct contact with dirt? When was the last time you had your toes in the sand? Have you noticed how calm you are after working at putting a flower in the ground? Ever wonder why?
Many people are calling it Earthing. Earthing is a line of thinking that says since we have bioelectricity that we need to be grounded. If not it is like any other electrical device we can build up extra energy that needs to be discharged.
Yeah ok, it does sound very woo woo but I think there is something there. For the past year, any time I am able to I like to make sure I have direct contact with the grass and dirt by walking barefoot. There apparently is a good deal of benefit to walking around barefoot. These range from helping your feet be healthier to decreasing anxiety and depression. Is this true? I honestly don’t know about the science behind it but since I have started trying to make as much bare skin contact to the outside as possible I feel more balanced. Therefore, who knows maybe there is something to Earthing?
So there you go no more excuses to get outside it is a nice day and your body is yearning to be in its element. So tell us what you did outside. In addition, what do you think of Earthing? Share your thoughts good bad or indifferent in the comments section below.
Nothing makes me happier than my nightly walk around my neighborhood with some music on for self reflection and grounding. Nature is soul healing!
Oh it is so very true my good man.
Being outside always makes me feel good in any situation. I actually had a long day yesterday so I decided to sit by the pool and I immediately felt better. It really does help! Great article.
Kendra?
Thank you so very much. I am all sorts of excited to be able to spend more time outside and get a refill of vitamin D