8 reasons why you should go out more often
The pandemic has made lifestyle adjustments for millions of people. If earlier a small number of employees sat at remote work, as a rule, programmers, web designers and copywriters, today you can easily see engineers and scientists working from home.
And before the pandemic, we went out on the street less and less, and with its arrival, we barricaded ourselves in our apartments, going only to work or to the grocery store. This isn’t good, because we need fresh air, sun, and freedom. Even if you are a hermit in life, it is worth going out more often for at least the following reasons.
On the street, you are charged with vitamin D and increase your immunity
The body synthesizes vitamin D through exposure to sunlight, and it also enters the body through food. Walking on a clear sunny day, you recharge like a battery. Vitamin D is essential for the normal functioning of the skeleton, circulatory system, and immunity, helps the body absorb trace elements such as calcium and phosphorus, and generally improves well-being.
Moreover, it is unnecessary to wander along the street for hours; 15 minutes of walking on a clear summer day or about half an hour in winter is enough to get enough of this vitamin. In addition to vitamin D, many plants’ organic substances released into the air also strengthen the immune system. So it’s best to walk in parks or wherever there is as much green space as possible.
Walking reduces stress
Sitting at home at the computer, you may feel overwhelmed as the brain adapts to the environment and begins to “get bored”. You begin to delve into yourself more often; negative thoughts come to mind, anxiety, anger, and stress arise. All this happens, including due to a sedentary lifestyle.
Therefore, it is worth going out on the street more often, at least for a short walk. In addition to allowing our body to synthesize vitamin D, Sunlight also maintains the level of serotonin – the hormone of joy that makes you more energetic, gives you a taste for life, allows you to stay calm, reasonable, and simultaneously optimistic. Plus, vitamin D and serotonin will help you feel better about yourself, as your self-esteem will rise when the effects of stress weaken.
The street encourages you to go in for sports
Walking with a calm step itself is an excellent exercise that accelerates the blood and removes stagnant processes. Why do you need a subscription to a gym, where you only use a treadmill and a Swedish wall, when you can run on the street with greater efficiency and in the fresh air for free, and do stretching on exercise machines installed in playgrounds.
Playing sports on the street is much more interesting than in a simulator, especially if there is a park or square near the house.
The street helps to socialize
If you are a hermit and hardly communicate with family and friends or with colleagues, a walk will help you at least a little to integrate into society. Walking with someone you like to talk to is especially helpful. You will not notice how you walked several kilometers, communicating on general topics.
In addition, playing sports with someone else is much more interesting because there is a competitive spirit in this case. Believe me, being in society, even for a hermit, is very important because we, according to the idea of nature, are social beings, and without communication with our kind, we gradually begin to degrade and sink more and more into depression.
Walking will improve your sleep
Healthy sleep is impossible without fresh air, especially in winter, when batteries dry up everything around. Walking in the fresh air helps you adjust your sleep cycle and make it more accurate. It’s not just about the oxygen supply but also about the sufficient amount of light that hits your eyes. When there is not enough light, the rhythm of the day gets lost because the body thinks it is already twilight and begins to prepare for sleep, releasing the hormone melatonin.
In this case, the person feels tired; he is pursued by constant drowsiness. By going outside for at least an hour, you let your body know that it’s too early for sleep, and you need to stop secreting melatonin. Regularly walking in the fresh air during the day, you will feel how you will become more cheerful, and your sleep will be more sound.
It helps improve your concentration
Walking on the street is not only psychological relaxation but also concentration on the details. Walking regularly, you will notice how your cognitive abilities have improved, that you have become better at memorizing information, seeing details that you did not notice before.
Scientists say that walking outside, especially in parks surrounded by greenery, even helps reduce the effects of ADHD and better focus for people with the disorder.
Walking can help reboot the brain
If your job is creative, you should go outside for at least half an hour during lunch. A change of scenery, especially when it comes to a park, improves creativity and problem-solving. Scientists attribute this to the fact that the outside world allows you to escape pressing problems, relax and focus on something. Sometimes a simple walk even to the store will be enough to get out of the creative crisis.
Walking helps you lose weight
As we said above, the street provokes you to sports and other physical activity. They, in turn, help burn calories efficiently. So it’s worth taking a walk for at least half an hour a day to lose those extra pounds.
By the way, weight loss is influenced not only by physical activity but also by the saturation of the body with vitamin D and serotonin, which helps to adjust the cycle of the day. These substances improve the quality of sleep, thereby reducing the level of stress hormones, which in large quantities help increase the production of the hunger hormone ghrelin and reduce the synthesis of the appetite suppressant hormone leptin.
