{"id":1748,"date":"2021-06-24T14:18:07","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T14:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/?p=1748"},"modified":"2021-06-24T14:18:07","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T14:18:07","slug":"go-outside-but-for-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/go-outside-but-for-real\/","title":{"rendered":"Go outside (but for real)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/06\/blog9.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1750\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/06\/blog9.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"624\" height=\"415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/06\/blog9.jpg 624w, https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2021\/06\/blog9-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a>(P<em>hoto caption: The author taking their own advice and exploring Bell Island. <\/em><em>Photo credit Joanie Kennah)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It will likely come as no surprise to you that in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic, and the stresses of grad school, going outside comes as a frequent recommendation to improve quality of life \u2013 and only more so now that we\u2019re finally through the winter and hopefully have some nicer weather on the horizon. If you\u2019re anything like me, this suggestion comes up more or less daily, and you have no good reason to dispute it (other than the Newfoundland climate, of course).<\/p>\n<p>Despite this, I struggle to actually follow through on this guidance and break out of my introverted home-body stasis. Blame it on depression, inertia, or the risk of having to interact with a stranger, but I can never seem to actually heed my own advice to just get out of my house and go for a walk, even when I know that I\u2019ll feel better afterwards. To that end, if you likewise know logically that time spent outdoors is good for you, but have trouble finding the motivation or follow-through to actually act upon that advice \u2013 this article is for you. Here\u2019s a list of reasons why you should go outside whenever you can, ranging from serious to facetious:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It\u2019s well documented at this point that time spent in nature has benefits for mental (and even physical!) health. You may be familiar with <em>shinrin-yoku<\/em>, the Japanese term translated as \u201cforest bathing\u201d \u2013 time spent in green spaces reduces blood pressure, alleviates chronic stress, and improves both anxiety and depression. I can\u2019t argue with this science, but it\u2019s still not enough to get me to actually partake in this form of self care.<\/li>\n<li>Similarly well-documented, exercise is objectively good for you, and working your physical self generally leads to improvements in your psychological self as well. Time outdoors doesn\u2019t have to equate to physical exertion \u2013 sitting in a park reading a book is still good! \u2013 but walking, hiking, cycling, all have the added bonus of some of these additional benefits.\n<ul>\n<li>I don\u2019t put too much stock in this one, personally: a fatphobic, body-dysmorphic society can create some fraught relationships with food and exercise. Take this one with a grain of salt, and don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re obligated to go work out if you have dessert. Food and exercise are not moral decisions and you don\u2019t have to \u201cearn\u201d anything.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Vitamin D is essential for our bodies to work properly. And yes, exposure to sun also poses risks. Wear sunscreen! But seeing as we\u2019re lucky to get two sunny days in a row here in town\u2026 I\u2019m more than happy to seize that one blue sky day to make up for all the other time I spend sitting indoors in front of my laptop.<\/li>\n<li>The hygiene hypothesis in relation to infants and young children suggests that as kids spend more time in relatively sterilized indoor environments, their immune systems cannot learn to identify threats and subsequently rates of allergies and autoimmune disorders skyrocket. There\u2019s absolutely no evidence to suggest that exposure as an adult can improve these existing conditions\u2026 but it probably can\u2019t hurt, right? (All of this applies to a pre-Covid world, obviously. Stay safe out there!)<\/li>\n<li>Learning to identify local plants and birds makes you more aware of your local surroundings, and can also make you a very fun person to bring along to hikes or picnics. At least that\u2019s what I tell myself. My friends might disagree after the tenth time I tell them what bird that is on that branch over there.<\/li>\n<li>My knowledge of hair care is extremely limited, but I do know that people buy salt spray as a treatment for\u2026 frizz? Honestly not sure. But based on this I can only assume that if you\u2019re spending time near the coast (aka, anywhere in town), the ocean spray coming off the water might help with your hair somehow?<\/li>\n<li>You could see a cute dog (all dogs are cute, so this one is easy)<\/li>\n<li>It forces you to put on real clothes that you can be seen wearing in public, as opposed to the leggings and sweater you\u2019ve been wearing continuously for the past 72 hours where you haven\u2019t left your house (hopefully this one isn\u2019t just me).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>~Jack<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Photo caption: The author taking their own advice and exploring Bell Island. Photo credit Joanie Kennah) It will likely come as no surprise to you that in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic, and the stresses of grad school, going outside comes as a frequent recommendation to improve quality of life \u2013 and only &#8230; <span class=\"more\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/go-outside-but-for-real\/\">[Read more&#8230;]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-jack-hendrix","4":"post-1748","6":"format-standard","7":"category-student-blog"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1748"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1751,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1748\/revisions\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}