“Sometimes we all need a break, maybe it’s time to walk in a Winter Wonderland”

Sometimes we all need a break. A brief pause in our busy, distracted lives; taking a moment to just breathe in fresh air, surrounded by green spaces, listening to the wildlife around us. It’s very cliché, and I’m sure you have heard it before, that going for a walk outside can make you feel so much better, but perhaps it is worth a try?

Even now the temperature is dropping, and the weather is turning, but doesn’t that make you feel more alive? To experience wrapping up warm to take a trundle through bare trees and fallen leaves, feeling a cool wind that flushes your cheeks red, and to getting home and feeling grateful that you went out and had a little wander, whilst wrapping your hands around a steaming cup of tea; it’s really something to appreciate.

In summertime it’s so easy to just pop out in loose clothing and go for a meander; I understand that colder months require more effort, but they’re worth it, I promise! It doesn’t have to just be a walk; tending to jobs in the garden, exercising outdoors, or being around animals, can have lots of positive effects.

It can:

❆ Improve your mood

❆ Reduce feelings of stress or anger

❆ Help you take time out and feel more relaxed

❆ Improve your physical health

❆ Improve your confidence and self-esteem

❆ Help you be more active

❆ Help you meet and get to know new people

❆ Connect you to your local community

❆ Reduce loneliness

❆ Help you feel more connected to nature

❆ Provide peer support

Getting out doesn’t just improve your mental wellbeing, it can also impact your physical wellbeing. One example is through the production of compounds in the body. Sunlight is extremely important in the production of vitamin D (builds and maintains healthy bones); we get enough of this over the warmer months as more of our skin is on show to the sun, however, in winter the body can struggle to make enough vitamin D as there is less sun overall and less skin on show. It is important to still try and go out in daylight to build up this level, but also supplementing vitamin D through eating oily fish, egg yolks, red meat, and other fortified foods is vital.

So as tempting as it is to fester on the sofa, eating all the delicious treats, try and get out in the fresh air every day and see how much better your body and brain feel as a result.