“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.” – Edward Abbey
Americans spend 87% of their time indoors and 6% of their time in enclosed vehicles according to a 2001 survey sponsored by the U.S. E.P.A. Honestly, those statistics don’t surprise me one bit. If you’re working the 8-5 grind in a workplace that keeps typical hours, often the only times you can step foot outside is for your daily commute to work or to run errands. In fact, 86% of Americans sit at a desk all day for work. Combine sitting in a desk all day with watching your favorite TV show (or reading your favorite blog) and you have a population that rarely sees the light of day!
If you’ve been keeping up with this blog you know that I’ve been spending my days outdoors. I work outside and play outside. My body feels great and my mood is wonderful. The sunshine, wind, grass, and trees of my new workplace have replaced the florescent lights, fans, carpet, and drywall of my old work places and I cannot emphasize enough how much of a positive effect this has had on my mindset.
As someone who has battled seasonal depression while working at a desk, I believe strongly in the correlation between spending time outside and a healthy mindset. In fact, I’m not the only person who believes in the importance of spending time outdoors. There’s a new trend making its debut in the United States- Forest Bathing. Yes, you read it correctly. People are paying to be guided through the woods on a walk that has been proven to lower stress levels, improve working memory and attribute to a feeling of being “more alive”. I’ve included a link below to an article about Forest Bathing if you’d like to learn more about it or the studies that have been done on it.
For this week, I urge you to spend some more time outdoors. I don’t expect anyone to jump straight into the art of Forest Bathing by any means, but simply to make an effort to spend time outside. There’s strong evidence to prove that your time spent in the woods and away from concrete is most effective for lowering stress levels, blood pressure, and clearing your mind. Understanding that it’s nearly impossible for most people working in a corporate environment to get to a patch of woods each day, I encourage you to simply spend some time outdoors. If that means that you grab your lunch and eat in the grass outside your office- DO IT! You’re likely to be accompanied by someone else or at the very least you’ll be setting a great example for your coworkers.
I’ve attached the link to the Forest Bathing article below and some pictures of my “office” from the past week. Enjoy the pictures and get outside!!!
Those horses look cooler than I could ever be.
Agreed. They’re studs! 😉
I love checking in to see what’s new!!