Go Outside

The Fall season brings colorful leaves, crisp air, football, and all things pumpkin spice. It's also a great time to get outside. Spending as little as 30 minutes a day outside has been shown to have many beneficial side effects.

• Vitamin D from the sun builds bones & muscles, regulates our circadian rhythm, helps improve sleep, and improves immune function. Deficiencies in vitamin D contribute to malignancies, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases.

• Relief from stress and anxiety

• Increased focus and concentration

• Relief from Seasonal Affective Disorder

• Ten to fifteen minutes daily may help improve symptoms of dementia. Exercise outdoors improves hippocampal volumes which translates to better spatial memory function.

• Promotes increased health through exercise.

• Boosts happiness

• Taking breaks outside increases productivity.

• Benefits for kids include:

  • Building confidence

  • ​gets them moving

  • reduces stress & fatigue

  • promotes creativity & imagination

So, what are some ways you can increase your time outside? Walk or bike instead of drive. Enjoy your meals outside. Take your dog for a walk. Take advantage of the many open spaces, state parks, natural areas, national parks and forests.

Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.
-- Henry David Thoreau