By Arica Hill
Yesterday was the “designated day of love”, and everywhere lovers and potential lovers were rushing around to show each other how much they care. Maybe your desk was brightened by flowers, or you had a romantic evening planned. Whatever the case may be, the notion, at least, of love would be present in your thoughts.
There is growing interest, however, in self-love. Carving time out of our busy schedules to “check in” with ourselves has become increasingly important in a constantly demanding world. Usually, the accompanying photo with those articles shows a person drinking a glass of wine, getting spa treatment, or reading a book. Perhaps the greatest untapped self-care remedy is spending time in the great outdoors.
Most of us go to jobs where we spend nearly eight hours in front of a computer screen, and then go home to spend more hours in front of a television. Our sedentary lifestyles may be making us less productive. Scientific studies have proven that spending time in the outdoors actually improves our health. Here are three ways that it can:
- Boosts Energy and Enhance Creativity
Studies show that spending time in the natural environment may be just the boost that your body needs when you are lacking energy. A few minutes walking through green spaces and getting fresh air can help to clear the mind, leaving room for creativity and innovation. Writing a report and feeling stuck? Take a walk and you will be surprised at the results.
- Boosts Immune System and Reduces Risk from Non-Communicable Disease
Everyone is aware that we can only get Vitamin D from sunshine, but were you also aware that this vitamin helps fight disease? Some studies indicate that getting 10-15 minutes of Vitamin D per day can have protective effects against everything from osteoporosis to cancer to depression to heart attacks and stroke.
- Natural Aromatherapy
Many spas encourage persons to have aromatherapy, which is known for its ability to improve overall health. Well, walking through a forested area can have the same effects! Scientists indicate that plants release chemicals that, when inhaled, can help to make us calmer and increase our levels of white blood cells.
There are clear benefits to increasing outdoor activity, or even sitting in green spaces. Often people assume that it requires a lot of planning, when really it doesn’t. Instead of having breakfast indoors, sit outside in your garden. Or find time in the evening, just before the hustle of homework and study, to breathe in and listen to the gaggle of birds in your mango tree. Truthfully, when we consider that many Antiguans and Barbudans suffer from non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, we realise the need to get a bit more active is increasingly important and doing that in this little paradise is not an impossible task.
Unfortunately, we cannot improve our health through this natural method if we don’t also love our environment. If we continue to create illegal dumping grounds around our island, backfill ponds, deforest mangroves, and wantonly cut down trees, we are doing ourselves the greatest disservice. Supporting environmental causes that conserve our natural environment can only lead to greater benefits to us, as individuals.
The Environmental Awareness Group has been at the forefront of this thrust for over thirty years, encouraging all of us to think better … think greener. Perhaps now is the time to join our efforts as a Valentine’s Day gift to yourself.
