Outdoor activities are a great way to get natural, fresh air. Exercising or engaging in other outdoor activities can also be therapeutic, helping you relax and stay calm. Several studies have shown that outdoor activities benefit mental and physical health. Putting away your TV, mobile phone, and other gadgets to spend some hours outdoors can immensely benefit you. Outdoor activities can relieve depression and anxiety, reduce stress, and help your muscles relax. In this article, you will learn of three activities you can do to brighten your day.
Mood-Boosting Outdoor Activities to Brighten Your Day
Gardening
Gardening is a great outdoor activity with numerous health benefits. In addition to growing your own food, you will spend time with nature. When you garden, you plant beautiful flowers, crops, or vegetables. The colors from your garden can give you a huge mood boost that will get you through a bad day. Gardening also means that your hands will be in the soil a lot, and you will move around a lot.
Benefits of Gardening
Gardening helps you relax and eliminates stress. Additionally, the rigor involved enables you to get enough exercise. For example, you will do squats and lunges while weeding and may need to carry heavy bags and supplies. You will also be exercising your whole body through other activities, such as digging and mowing, which will lower your stress levels and anxiety. Gardening can improve your balance, flexibility, strength, and motor skills, especially hand strength.
Gardening is one of the outdoor activities that improve breathing. You will breathe deeper outside and inhale clear air. This can benefit your immune system response and increase blood oxygen levels. Moreover, the sunlight from gardening can improve mental focus, increase vitamin D intake, and lower blood pressure. This will help you stay calm, which can reduce your heart rate and muscle tension so that your blood pressure becomes lower.
Outdoor Walking/ Hiking
Walking or hiking in nature is one of the best outdoor activities to boost your mood. A few minutes of walking can do wonders for your mental and physical well-being. You get to experience the beauty of nature while inhaling fresh air and stretching your body. Walking or hiking can also help you form connections when you do it with friends and loved ones.
Benefits of Outdoor Walking/ Hiking
Outdoor walking or hiking exercises increase blood flow to the brain. They also reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure. Walking enhances blood circulation and has proven to be an effective antihypertensive remedy. It can also ease muscle stiffness, joint pain, arthritis symptoms, and back pain. This outdoor activity helps build stronger muscles and bones and improve balance. Additionally, walking can lower the risk of obesity or weight loss if one is already obese by burning calories.
Other benefits of outdoor walking include reduced anxiety and depression. Research has shown that certain colors, such as green, can help you calm down. When you take a nature walk or hike, you are more likely to see green around you. Walking also releases endorphins, serotonin, and norepinephrine in your body, which ease depressive feelings. Additionally, walking helps you sleep better due to increased vitamin D levels and exercise.
Picnics
Picnics are another outdoor activity that can boost your mood and energize you. This outdoor activity helps you escape the hustle and bustle of daily life and the distractions of gadgets. Having a picnic allows you to appreciate nature’s beauty and deeply reflect. If you go with friends or loved ones, you can also have meaningful conversations and connect better with them. Take healthy foods, fruits, snacks, and drinks and picnic in a cool, serene environment.
Benefits of Picnics
When you go on picnics, you breathe fresh air and have healthy and clear lungs. You can also destress and relax. The cool air, beautiful environment, and conversations can distract you from the endless tasks that await you so that you can stay calm. Picnics also strengthen bonds with loved ones. Additionally, they help you become grateful for what you have and the simple things in life.
Moreover, picnics enable you to exercise. For example, you could play a game of frisbee, cycle, run, or swim during your exercise. These outdoor activities release endorphins, which reduce pain and increase pleasure. Picnics also increase vitamin D intake, which can help with better sleep and calcium intake for stronger bones and teeth.
Outdoor activities allow you to gain a better appreciation for life and everything around you. Your mental, physical, and emotional health will improve because you are not indoors playing games, watching TV, or doing tasks within the house all day. When you start engaging in outdoor activities, you will fall sick less and see decreased levels of depression.
#Clique, do you engage in outdoor activities? What outdoor activities do you engage in, and what benefits have you derived from them? Let us know in the comments.
