Outdoors
Those who are able to soak up everything nature has to offer find out why being outside is important—it comes down to health - Sydney Sprouse
image by: Denis Kollar
HWN Suggests
For Better Health During the Pandemic, Is Two Hours Outdoors the New 10,000 Steps?
Will two hours in the park become the next 10,000 steps?
As people spend more time indoors, a mountain of scientific research says spending time in nature is critical to health and increases longevity. That means being in fresh air, under trees and away from cars and concrete—on a regular basis. And, no, the Peloton doesn’t count.
“There’s an urgent need emerging in science and at the gut level to increase the nature experience. This field is just exploding,” says Gretchen Daily, a professor of environmental science at Stanford University.
The benefits have been clear to scientists for some time, but the pandemic has made the matter more urgent. The physical and emotional…
Resources
Outdoors as Medicine: The Health Benefits of Nature are Numerous, Science Says
The youngest among us recognize the health benefits of nature: 80 percent of kids ages 8 to 12 believe contact with nature makes them more creative, happy, healthy, and smart.
A weekly goal of two hours of “nature time” improves health and wellbeing
The idea that spending recreational time in natural settings is good for our health and wellbeing is hardly new. Parents have been telling their kids to “go play outside, it’s good for you” for generations.
Ecopsychology: How Immersion in Nature Benefits Your Health
A growing body of research points to the beneficial effects that exposure to the natural world has on health, reducing stress and promoting healing. Now, policymakers, employers, and healthcare providers are increasingly considering the human need for nature in how they plan and operate.
Just being outside can improve your psychological health, and maybe your physical health too
The more we learn about the health benefits of exposure to the outdoors, the more it seems like a good idea to spend more time in them. Researchers have found that just office might be making you sick, simply by being a closed environment. So maybe, once again, you should go outside.
Why Going Outside Is Good For Your Health, Especially Right Now
Hundreds of studies have linked spending time outside to better health outcomes like decreases in incidences of diabetes and cardio-vascular mortality, lower blood pressure and heart rate, and better immune system function. In fact, these positive effects that are so well-documented that more and more doctors are issuing “nature prescriptions” to help treat a range of conditions from heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes, to chronic stress, depression and anxiety, insomnia and even PTSD.
Why time outdoors is crucial to your health, even during the coronavirus pandemic
Our research has found that nature is not an amenity—it’s a necessity. We need to take it seriously.
‘Nature Deficit Disorder’ Is Really a Thing
Children’s behavior may suffer from lack of access to outdoor space, a problem heightened by the pandemic.
The Nature Cure
Why some doctors are writing prescriptions for time outdoors.
A prescription for better health: go alfresco
Spending time outside might have some health benefits — and the 'greening' of exercise might have some more.
Doctors are prescribing the great outdoors, but that's not great for everyone
Spending time outside is a cheap way to improve your health—if you're rich.
Even tethered to our desks, biology keeps us connected to nature
How exposure to greenery helps us create, focus, heal, and unwind.
Forest Bathing: A Retreat To Nature Can Boost Immunity And Mood
When my editors asked me to report on forest bathing, I packed a swimsuit. I assumed it must involve a dip in the water. It turns out, my interpretation was too literal.
Here’s why you’re craving the outdoors so much during the coronavirus lockdown
Our lust for nature is real. The concept of biophilia, popularized by E.O. Wilson, professor emeritus of biology at Harvard University, holds that humans have an inherent love of and desire to be near and in nature.
How Much Nature Is Enough? 120 Minutes a Week, Doctors Say
Researchers have now quantified the ideal amount of time needed to reap the health benefits of the great outdoors.
How Nature Benefits Your Mental Health
Recently, scientists have been working out whether grass and trees could be used to treat depression and anxiety.
I Tried ‘Forest Bathing’ to Cure My COVID Fatigue
I rarely leave home because of the pandemic so I wondered, would going to a forest to do nothing in urban Singapore actually help my mental health?
Spending Just 20 Minutes in a Park Makes You Happier. Here's What Else Being Outside Can Do for Your Health
Physical activity was not necessary to increase well-being, the study authors found, even though plenty of research suggests that exercise is great for mental health, particularly when it’s done outside. For many people in the study, simply being in green space seemed to be enough to spark a change, says study co-author Hon Yuen, director of research in the occupational therapy department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The great outdoors? Exploring the mental health benefits of natural environments
There is growing evidence to suggest that exposure to natural environments can be associated with mental health benefits. Proximity to greenspace has been associated with lower levels of stress...
Tree Therapy? ‘Forest Bathers’ Say It Helps
They call themselves forest bathers, part of a growing movement that believes immersing oneself in nature and in the chemicals plants and trees emit has unexpected medical benefits.
Two hours a week spent outdoors in nature linked with better health
The magnitude of health gains of 2 hours spent in nature appear to be significant, on a par with the health differences associated between living in a well-off area and a deprived one. They also seem to apply to everyone, regardless of age, gender, long term illness or disability. “You don’t have to be running around the park, just sitting on a bench will do...
For Better Health During the Pandemic, Is Two Hours Outdoors the New 10,000 Steps?
The physical and mental damage inflicted by Covid has doctors, researchers and others racing to tap into nature’s therapeutic effects.
10 Reasons Why Being Outside is Important
Those who are able to soak up everything nature has to offer find out why being outside is important—it comes down to health.
17 minutes outside a day keeps the doctor away
It's no secret that the great outdoors is also great for your health. The benefits of elective time with nature are hard to quantify, but scientists have connected time spent outside to improved mental health, a decreased risk of obesity, and better sleep.
Children & Nature Network
We believe that the well-being of children and the wild places we love are inextricably linked. And while research tells us that regular time outdoors is essential for children’s healthy development, today’s kids are less connected to nature than ever before.
NatureQuant
Delivering technology to assess and promote nature exposure.
10 Minute Walk
We’re inspiring and enabling action to create a world in which 100% of people in U.S. cities—LARGE AND SMALL—have safe access to a quality park or green space within a 10-minute walk of home by 2050.
Outdoor Foundation
Inspiring the outdoor habit in kids and families by connecting research, knowledge, people and programs. With the goal of everyone experiencing the fun and joy of the outdoors once a week.
Outdoors Rx
Adventures for the family are closer than you think. Outdoors Rx serves families living in vulnerable communities and aims to improve the mental and physical well-being of children from infancy to age 13 by helping them get outdoors.
Park Rx America
Park Rx America is a non-profit organization whose mission is to decrease the burden of chronic disease, increase health and happiness, and foster environmental stewardship, by virtue of prescribing Nature during the routine delivery of healthcare by a diverse group of health care professionals.
ParkRx
Welcome to ParkRx.org, the leading information hub for Park Prescriptions and a space for knowledge sharing in the practitioner community.
Natural Capital Project
Pioneering science, technology, and partnerships that enable people and nature to thrive. The Natural Capital Project aims to improve the well-being of people and our planet by motivating targeted investments in nature.
Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs
Nurture heart-centered relationships between all peoples and the More-Than-Human world of nature.
Walk with a Doc
Walk with a Doc is a nonprofit that inspires communities through movement and conversation with physician-led walking programs.
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