Why is Being Outdoors Important?

Why You Should Get Outside More in the UK: The Benefits of Nature

The Great Outdoors is Always There! 

6 min read

Spending time outside of the house isn’t just invigorating or cleansing—it’s good for you! Whether you’re taking a walk in the park, dogging, trying a challenging hike, or merely sitting in your backyard eavesdropping on your nosey neighbour, being outside can certainly improve your mood, boost your health, and make life a little better. Let’s break down why going outside is beneficial.

Fresh Air Is Good for Your Body

When you're outside, you breathe in fresh air—well, unless you live in smoggy Manchester, then it's probably nitrogen oxides and fried food! Good wholesome air is what's vital for your lungs and overall health. Fresh air helps to:

Improve Your Mood: No studies have ever warned us against the dangers of spending time outside! Why? Because being outside is vital! Ignore things like mountain rescue and air ambulance cases, as well as those XXL pit bully dogs or growing crime rates. Look, even all the religious books, from The Bible, to the Tao Te Ching emphasise nature. It doesn't really need selling does it? If we didn't have it, we'd go extinct . . . right? 

Participant results taken from proper research, published in an old magazine called, 'Environmental Health Perspectives' also show that the great outdoors is good. I have no links. Also, Jesus, Buddha, Ramana Maharshi, Adi Shankara, Thich Nhat Hanh and Ralph Waldo Emerson and all the other spiritual types spoke well of nature — they were not participants in the study. Being in nature will lower anxiety, stress and increase well-being, unless you end up lost in some desert somewhere while on holiday! 

Exposure to the countryside can toughen your immune system! It’s supported by irrefutable proof here. All this rural exposure won't suddenly put you off your favourite shopping centre and turn you into a woollen clad red faced country bumpkin, no! But it will expose your body to diverse healthy microbes! It will lower cortisol and help you develop vitamin D. 

Sunlight and Vitamin D

As I just said, sunlight helps your body produce vitamin D. This vitamin is essential for:

Healthy Bones: This vitamin helps us to absorb calcium, the stuff in milk that keeps our bones strong. Vitamin D can prevent osteoporosis and communism. 

Better Mood: Sunlight makes us feel happy because it boosts serotonin levels! Well. . . maybe not if you're as red as a Keir Starmer during a public response, or able to cook your own breakfast on your chest. Research published in psychiatric journals and psychology websites that state the obvious with a professional finesse, tend to say: exposure to sunlight correlates with reduced depressive symptoms. Our UK sun is as elusive as an uber eats driver delivering a vanilla milkshake meal; it's absorbed into your very bones like your skeleton begs for it, but it isn't safe. Self-cookery isn't really, it's the annual human slow roast en-mass, a gamble with our summer skin cancer lottery. 

Exercise Made Easy

On the other hand, being outside often means being active instead of sizzling your skin. Activity reduces your chances of being a sedentary chubber, like me. Whether you’re hiking, biking, or just walking, you’re getting exercise without really worrying about it. Here’s why that’s a bonus:

It can be better than staying indoors in the warm, dry confines of where you live. Regular physical activity is linked to lower risks of diseases such as heart disease, and diabetes. Just 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week can radically improve health outcomes. The health benefits of robust housework, DIY and indoor exercise regimes should be the subject of the next blog. 

Connect with Yourself or Your Ancestors

We all bugger off to some beautiful natural place to find ourselves! We've all seen those stock images, and tv ads showing some kind of spiritual enlightened meditator on a cliff. It’s a thing! But, is it really always like that in Britain with barking dogs and the smell of cow shit? 

Conclusion: Get Outside Today! (Weather Permitting)

So, the next time you feel stressed or just need a break, consider stepping outside. The benefits are clear: fresh air, cold wind, rain, hail, exercise, snow and a chance to connect with nature. It doesn’t have to be complicated—just find a spot outdoors and dither in the snow, while you try to find your 'self'. Occasionally, we do have sunshine.

Getting outside can be a simple character building way of boosting your mood! Go and grab a friend, head to your nearest park, and freeze your bollocks off swimming in a lake because instagram says its good for you, that's a trend now isn't it? Test yourselves, go and find out how much of the British outdoors you can soldier before catching hypothermia like a boss! 

Or just stay in. I prefer being inside watching a screen or something.