GET OUTSIDE – Why it’s important to walk in nature

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Get Outside!

Regular walking has a tremendous impact to human health, but there is an additional benefit if you do it in nature. We often tend to give for granted what is obvious. Fact is that people have a higher tendency of being physically active when they have easy access to green spaces. There is just something about taking a walk in the park that helps relieves stress and improve a person’s overall well-being and mood. If you think you can’t afford to take a break to go for a walk in nature even only once in a while, here are compelling reasons to convince you to start doing so:

Walking in Nature Promotes Physical Health

The most obvious benefit of walking in nature is to the physical health. If you’re not into running, regular walking can be a great way for you to maintain a healthy heart. Walking is an excellent form of aerobic exercise and can effectively improve our heart rate. By walking on a regular basis, you can cut your risk for coronary heart disease by up to 10%. Regular walks lower risk of diabetes. And, if you have hypertension, you can cut your risk down as well by take some regular pleasant walk. Another logical benefit of walking is that help improve balance and coordination, while strengthen bones and muscles.

Walking in Nature Promotes Mental Health

Perhaps the more interesting benefit of walking in nature is to the mental health. Walking in nature can improve the mood as well as the short-term memory of individuals suffering from depression. It has also been found to be effective in improving the attention span of children who have ADHD.

Another benefit of walking in nature to the mental health is that it helps promote creativity. It’s not a secret that most of the historical geniuses we know, included regular walks in nature to their daily routine. Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Einstein – being brilliant is one of the major things they have in common.

Another thing that puts them in the same pedestal is the fact that they all loved to take long walks every day. They took this time not only to take a break from work, but most importantly, to recharge their mental batteries. Their habit didn’t fail them, because it was usually during their daily stroll in nature that they were able to come up with brilliant  ideas.

To summarize

Aside from promoting creativity, taking daily walks in nature has unforeseen benefits. Proven to not only improve memory, but to actually cut the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative mental diseases. In fact, some researchers have claimed that walking is the best medicine to delay the progression of Alzheimer’s. Meanwhile, one can get a chance to pick some wild edible and medical plants that generous Mother Earth  provides us free of charge.