You Probably Aren’t Spending Enough Time Outside
And that could be hurting your health and your happiness
As smart technology becomes more and more prevalent in society, people are starting to spend less and less time outdoors. According to new surveys, 51% of Americans spend less than 5 hours a week outdoors. That is becoming a problem for people’s health. This unhealthy trend is also coming at a time when people are working from home and access to outdoor spaces has been hampered by the ongoing global pandemic. A study in 2020 also pointed out that urban green spaces are on the decline.
It is no wonder that Americans are reportedly unhappier than they have been in over five decades. These two trends are definitely connected. So what can we do about it? The answer is actually super simple: spend more time outside.
An in-depth paper written by Nature concluded that in order to receive a whole wealth of benefits to health and happiness people need to spend just 120 minutes per week in nature. This doesn’t count trips from the Costco door to your car at the back of the parking lot but actual contemplative or active time in a green space. The maximum benefit comes when people spend 300 minutes outdoors per week but just 120 minutes can make a noticeable difference in people’s lives.
A Life Spent Inside
While the number of adults who are spending adequate time outside is shrinking, the numbers for young kids is even more staggering. Kids today are spending up to eight hours in front of screens including phones, tablets, computers and televisions. Even kids under the age of ten are getting up to six hours of screen time per day. How much time are they spending outside? Less than ten minutes per day. That equates to only 70 minutes per week, about half of what is recommended. And there is no way to tell if those numbers include healthy outside time or simply time spent generally outside.
That is alarming.
Depression and anxiety rates among young kids and teenagers have been rising year over year since the advent of the smartphone. Again, there is no way to prove a solid causal link between these two phenomena but the correlation is stark.
Americans, now more than ever, need to be spending more time outside.
Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Bathing
Japan has one of the densest urban populations in the world. Tens of millions of people live in a relatively small area. There are places in the Tokyo metro area where you can go to the top of a building and only see urban sprawl as far as the eye can see. That is why they invented a practice known as shinrin-yoku which translates to bathing in the forest or forest bath. This is a practice in which people go out into nature, not to hike or run or camp, but to simply sit, meander and soak in the sights, smells and sounds of the forest.
And it has incredible benefits.
People who spend adequate time in nature report having higher life satisfaction, higher rates of happiness, lower rates of anxiety and depression. Vitamin D that comes from the sun is good for your skin and your bones as well as your mood. People who spend time outdoors report much higher rates of good health and overall well-being.
Anyone who is put off by the idea of investing in an expensive outdoor sport need not worry. Time outside does not need to be accompanied by blood sweat and tears, it simply needs to happen. The benefits come from being in the sunshine, hearing the birds, smelling the rain, feeling the earth not in moving in nature. Nor do they need to sit on a bench and stare at our screens the whole time. People need to actually be in nature. Even if it is only for a few minutes at a time.
Go Outside
The internet is awash with articles claiming they can fix your life in X easy steps. People have made entire livings by trying to come up with the easiest and most hassle-free ways of improving themselves, but in this case, the answer really is that simple. 120 minutes a week spent in nature has measurable health benefits.
That’s it.
Go outside.
Twenty minutes a day, every day, adds up to 140 minutes outside which is more than enough to get you going. If you want the full benefit you need only to spend 42 minutes a day outside. If you want to clump it all together at once, spend two hours a day on the weekends outside. It doesn’t matter how you slice it, the benefits are there if you want them.
So, I’ll ask again. Are you spending enough time outside? If the answer is no, you might want to reconsider how you spend a few precious moments a day. The outcomes might surprise you.
