Humans are an Outdoors Species!
For most of our history on this big rock, humans (homo sapiens) have been outdoor creatures. It’s only in the last century or so that we’ve seen a dramatic shift indoors. Technology has played a big role in this with the rise of radio, then television, then the Internet and most recently, social media and online streaming.
The data is alarming. A 2023 survey found that nearly 40% of adults in the UK spend less than one hour a day outdoors. And we realise that this isn’t good for us. Nearly half of the people in that same survey said that their mental or physical health suffers if they spend too much time indoors and they wanted to increase their outdoor time. And the scientific research backs them up.
Greenery Matters
Crucially, the type of environment makes a difference. A large 2019 study in the UK study found that being outside in nature for just 2 hours a week was associated with much better health and wellbeing. This was the case even if those two hours were split into smaller chunks.
In 2015, researchers in the US carried out a study whereby participants went for a 90 minute walk either in an urban setting or a rural setting. The participants who went into green areas reported less ruminative thoughts (which is when you think about things over and over, in a negative way). The researchers also scanned the brains of the participants and found that those who went to the green areas had less activity in the parts of the brain associated with ruminative thought. No such reductions were seen in those who went for a walk in urban settings. In other words, going outside into green areas calms the brain.
Forest Bathing?
In Japan, scientists have investigated something called “forest bathing.” As the title suggests, forest bathing (shinrin yoku, in Japanese) is when you walk through a wooded area “bathing” in the forest energies. A seminal 2009 study compared the results of walking in forest versus city settings, and found that “forest environments promote lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, greater parasympathetic nerve activity, and lower sympathetic nerve activity than do city environments.”
The benefits of being outside, especially in green areas is overwhelming and confirmed by our personal experience. I think it’s especially important to get children into the outdoor way of life from as early as possible. Here in the UK, we have long spells of each year when it’s cold, dark and wet – not ideal for getting outside. It’s understandable that we tend to hide away indoors from the elements. But winter time is probably the most important time to get outside because we are so starved of natural light and prone to things like seasonal affective disorder.
During those short daylight hours, we must do what we can to get outside. I had an issue a couple of years ago where I was very, very down in the winter. I resolved the following year to make sure to always go out for family walks even in the cold. And it worked a treat! I felt much better in myself an winter seemed a lot less of a drag. This year I’ve slipped back into my old ways, so this article is a reminder to myself!
So let’s get outside. Our health depends on it.
