Go Outdoors

We all get the idea that going outside for a walk is good for us.

Fresh air, moving muscles, blood pumping... Physically it is great for toning muscles and even losing weight, but the overwhelming evidence demonstrates that it does far more for our wellbeing than just boosting our bodies!

As Mental Health Awareness Week is coming up, it seems a good time to look at all the proven benefits of being outdoors. Both for children and for adults.

I'm sure I'm preaching to the converted here, but I will include links that help prove the point for those of you who need to convince others elsewhere

For Children the benfits come from fresh air in developing lungs, immune-system building microbes from soil, resilience due to seasons and weather, space to move, and endless things to discover which feed their minds and grow their curiosity! It sets the tone for being active for life, and stimulates their need to explore and investigate for themselves - learning.



  • It builds confidence. ...
  • It promotes creativity and imagination. ...
  • It teaches responsibility. ...
  • It provides different stimulation. ...
  • It gets kids moving. ...
  • It makes them think. ...
  • It reduces stress and fatigue.

Nature Deficit Disorder is a recognised barrier to child development. Taking children outside is good for their 'mind, body, and soul'!  The human child is designed to be outdoors and surrounded by nature as much as the young of any other creature on our shared planet!

It's long since been established how exercise can improve your mental health, but for most of us,this sentence indicates joining a gym or a team sport, both of which take organisation and usually, money! The great thing about going for a walk is that it is free! You can aim for the perfection of an early stroll in the countryside (whatever the season), or squeeze in a 15 minute walk at lunchtime, or take the family for a wander at the weekend. Walking is overlooked as an exercise, probably because for millenia humans engaged in this form of exercise by default! If you wanted to get from A to B you had to walk it! Even if it was a great distance, not everyone had access to a cart or a horse/donkey/mule!sss Even in the not-so-distant past, we walked to the highstreet, walked around the shops, carried everything home... now we have deliveries or jump in the car to go to the corner shop! But as we dropped our daily walking tasks we lost not only the exercise but the time outdoors, yet this simple activity is so good for us all!

There are endless articles and research papers demonstrating how good walking is for Mental Health and Wellbeing in adults.


There is also equal amounts of evidence to show that simply being outdoors improves your mood.

We know being in nature is good for mental health. Lots of articles and University studies demonstrate that humans 'need a connection' with nature. It is seem as a lost link that we need to reconnect. However in usual human fashion this wording in itself proves that we a species have forgotten that we are actually a PART of nature! We are not separate to it, we do not need to build a link to it, we need to take our place amongst it. We are part of all the living things on this planet that maintain its progress and survival, a cog in an all-encompassing Nature Wheel that turns seasonally to provide for the inhabitants of the planet.

When we deny nature in our lives, we deny an intrinsic part of ourselves. Nature is good for us!

It can:
Improve our mood
Improve physical health
Improve confidence and self-esteem
Reduce stress or anger
Help us be more active
Give us the opportunity to meet new people
Connect us to the community and environment

And strangely this works whether we walk urban roads, beneath street trees, listening to sparrows chatter, or in parks, and pleasaunces, and small green spaces where we see grass and shrubs, or if we meander across meadows in the countryside, or march on the beach, or follow the riverbank and canal paths. Sitting on a local bench listening to birdsong, lounging in the gardens of the local park, watching foxes from our balconies, feeding hedgehogs in our gardens, watching sunrise or sunset from our cars...

This 'phenomenon' is used regularly in therapies, and is something we can do for ourselves.

It's an easy family activity, multi-generational, and can be solo or in a group!


Every picture and highlighted sentence or word in this blog links to information of the power of nature. Other blogs, opinion, referenced articles, and summaries of studiers.

So, when Mental Health Awareness Week dawns, go outside. walk, talk, or just be. 

We provide this opportunity to children every day. 
It's essential.

It's time we did it for ourselves too.
Location: Canterbury, United Kingdom

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