June 19, 2024

Boost Brain Power - Spend Time Outdoors

Did you know adults nowadays spend about 80-90% of their time indoors? This is be due to work that’s primarily indoors and the sedentary lifestyle that most of us lead nowadays.

Spending some time outside in nature can be incredibly beneficial to your physical and mental health and can help pull you out of a mental slump if you are feeling down. It has many brain benefits. Even getting a minimal amount of fresh air every day can help boost your brain power.

Nature is an effective tool that can help manage your stress levels by regulating your nervous system. Moreover a simple walk of as little as 5 to 10 minutes can work like a charm in pulling you out of the valley of despair.

Furthermore, spending time outdoors can help increase focus, attention, and concentration. When you get back to your tasks you feel refreshed. It can also ease symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and general mood swings by helping you manage and regulate your emotions.

Exposure to nature has also been linked to improvement in attention, creativity, memory, sleep quality, and overall improved cognitive function. To boost brain power, you should aim to get at least 20 to 90 minutes outdoors in nature every day.

This could be anything that you like doing, such as walking, outdoor yoga, gardening, exercising outdoors, swimming in an outdoor pool, or nature-based therapy. Another survey found that individuals who spend at least two hours outdoors in nature are more likely to have positive mental and physical health outcomes as compared to people who stay cooped up inside.

If getting two or three time periods outdoors is not sustainable for you due to time constraints, you should aim to get at least 15 to 25 minutes every day as a start. Even minimal amounts of time in nature and fresh air can help boost your brain power and freshen up your feelings and emotions.

Try to aim to spend some time in a park or any green space since it helps improve cognitive functioning and creativity. While it may be difficult for some to carve out a few hours to spend time outside in nature, you can manage it well by taking small breaks outdoors.

For example, have your lunch outside or take a call while pacing outside in nature. Taking a few small breaks and spending them outside can also give you the same benefits as spending a larger chunk of your time outside leading to an improvement in cognitive function, creativity, focus, and attention.

We, humans, have an innate human instinct to connect with nature, otherwise known as Biophilia. This is why spending time outdoors can make us feel better and improve our overall well-being. When we spend time outdoors, we are better able to recover from stress because of the positive effects of sunlight and fresh air as opposed to being slumped over our laptops in our small office cubicles caught up in the stressful hustle culture we currently live in.

Due to our increased detachment from nature because of technology, work, and urbanization, our brain and overall health are bound to experience negative effects like stress, depression, anxiety, and a lack of focus and motivation.

Therefore, time spent in nature and green spaces outdoors can help improve your memory, alleviate stress levels, heighten your creativity, and manage symptoms of depression and ADHD.

People who spend time in nature are more likely to experience less anxiety, overthinking, and rumination as compared to those who spend more time indoors or in urban areas.

Spending time outside not only boosts your brain power but also has incredible benefits to your physical health, so do yourself a favor and spend more time outside!

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If you like this content, check out my substack newletter on effective stress manageent at: https://theunreliablemind.substack.com/p/effective-stress-management