As an outdoor enthusiast, I love any excuse to spend time outside. Whether I spend my time reading by the pool, hiking in a state park, or taking a prayer walk, I try and enjoy any time I can get in the great outdoors! I also love to encourage others to get outside, hence why I decided to write this blog post!
In celebration of Great Outdoors Month this June, I wanted to outline the key benefits of spending time outside. I also wanted to give different ideas of how you can spend time outside. Now I know not everyone is the outdoorsy type, so I’ve taken that into consideration when coming up with my ideas. I also acknowledge that not everyone has the time to be outside a ton. I hope you find that I have come up with a good variety of ways to still spend time outside, no matter your lifestyle.
Benefits of Spending Time Outdoors
There has been much research conducted on the benefits of spending time outside and its effects on our physical and mental health. The biggest benefit is that it often encourages exercise. In turn, exercise has many of its own benefits. Improved mood, enhanced brain function, boosted immune system, and eased anxiety are just a few of the positive benefits of exercise specifically.
Spending time outside also gives you exposure to the sun, soaking up the natural vitamin D your body needs. Even going for a simple walk is often associated with lower blood pressure and stress levels. In today’s day and age, it seems like everyone is stressed out. Just the benefit of decreased stress should be enough encouragement to get you to spend a bit of time outside!
Ways You Can Spend Time Outdoors
- Have a picnic at your local community park.
- Visit a national or state park.
- Go on a bike ride.
- Play an outdoor sport.
- Go Eno’ing (hammocking).
- Take your dog for a walk.
- Bring your work outside.
- Go to the pool.
- Plant and tend a garden.
- Go geocaching.
- Sit on your porch and read a book.
- Go on a prayer walk.
- Eat a meal outside.
- Go on a hike.
There are so many different ways to incorporate time outside into a daily routine. You can also plan to do something on the weekend when you might have more time to spend outdoors. The options are endless!
How I Celebrated Great Outdoors Month
I am very lucky to live so close to Red Top Mountain State Park. This past weekend, David and I dedicated some time on Saturday to go hiking on the trails in the park. Hiking is one of our favorite activities to do outside together. Not only does it get us outside and into nature, but it allows us to spend quality time together.
At Red Top Mountain, the terrain is mostly wooded. We saw some mushrooms, a fair amount of birds, and a mama deer with her baby! There is also a large lake, so the views while hiking near the water are gorgeous. I am always kept entertained by the variety of plants, animals, and views to look at.
The outdoors really is an amazing place. I anticipate that once you have enjoyed time outside once, you’ll want to continue again and again. I hope that the ideas I came up with, coupled with the benefits of spending time outside, encourage you to spend time outdoors this month to celebrate Great Outdoors Month!