While medications are often necessary to control or cure certain diseases, there is no medication that provides the range of benefits that accrue from spending time outdoors and enjoying fresh air and sunlight.
An overwhelming body of research has identified numerous healthy outcomes that correlate with spending time in nature – including improving mood, enhancing self-esteem, reducing stress and anxiety levels, and even improving cognitive skills and immune function. Furthermore, exposure to fresh air and sunlight can help regulate the sleep cycle and enhance the quality of your sleep. You can also get a “twofer” by performing outdoor physical activities – particularly heart-healthy aerobics such as walking, jogging, biking, or swimming.
The ready availability of sedentary activities that can be performed indoors for work or leisure – such as those involving watching TV or spending time on the internet – can cause people to develop bad habits that can lead to obesity and other medical conditions that are triggered by a sedentary lifestyle. On the other hand, there are very few downsides associated with spending time in nature – although some adjustments need to be made in the nature of length of time spent in outdoor activities by those who have respiratory or balance issues, and attention also has to be paid to avoid extreme weather or other environmental hazards.
Those of us who live in the northern hemisphere are entering that time of the year when the days are getting longer, and some of us will benefit from even more sunlight due to Daylight Savings Time. If you recognize that you aren’t spending enough time experiencing the benefits of being outside in nature, this is the time to start making the change and benefit from the wonderful medicine that nature provides. There is likely to be a chunk of daylight available even at the end of a long workday, and the plant world that comes alive in the spring should provide added incentive to enjoy the beauty as well as the physical, emotional, and cognitive benefits that nature provides for us.