Get Fresh Air: Take Your Next Break Outside to Elevate Your Day

With 84% of the UK’s population living in urban areas, it’s no surprise many of us feel disconnected from nature. Did you spend more time outside as a child than you do today? And like me, did you watch the clock above the teacher’s head in primary school longing for the bell to sound so you could get outside to play at breaktimes?! What’s happened to our childhood connection with the great outdoors and why are so many of us choosing to have lunch at our desks now? I say bring back your excitement about getting outside!

For lots of busy people across the globe the day follows the usual pattern: get up, leave home, go to work, come home again, go to bed. Your life’s busy and there’s not much time for anything, especially when keeping a house ticking over is on top. It’s easy to skip stepping outside when life’s so hectic.

The proof of a successful adult day is often linked with packing in as many hours as possible. Waking up earlier, powering through lunch, replying to emails and sitting in back-to-back meetings. This is the norm now – the constant striving to achieve more. The popular (and inaccurate) story of hustle hard from dawn to dusk because working hard equals productivity is automatic pilot for many. Check-in with yourself now, are you getting what you want done each day & how’s your energy level at the moment?

Could there be a more sustainable way for you? Yes, fresh air. It’s a magical tool that refreshes us. Getting outside can easily get your mind & body back online, while also helping reduce your stress and improve your mental health. And I don’t know about you, but I tend to get my big ideas and inspiration when I’m outside not doing a whole lot. The vastness of the sky seems to open our minds in a way a 2.8 metre ceiling just can’t. So if you’re in a slump or a negative loop, simply raising the roof above your head could help you to breathe a bit deeper and see things differently… I guess they don’t call it blue sky thinking for nothing! A few minutes of sitting or walking outside works wonders. Try to get outside today, glance up at the sky, listen to birdsong, breathe fresh air deeply into your lungs – it’s simple, but it really works lift your day.

Planning outdoor pauses in your day is highly unlikely to hold you back. The opposite is true, research shows that pauses can boost your productivity and reduce your stress levels. When you’re more connected to the natural world, you’re able to better cope with hard times, stress, anxiety and depression; but exactly the opposite happens when you only hop from home to work and back without fresh air in between.

Think how easy it is to dwell on your problems when you stay at home, or how hard it can be to see beyond your stress when you spend too much time at the office. It doesn’t leave much room for fresh ideas. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with slumping down on the couch now and again after a hard day at work, but often, a good dose of natural light might be what you really need to recharge our mind & body.

Perhaps you feel disconnected because you’re living your life under a ceiling rather than the sky, or under artificial light rather than sun, with the hum of computers and phone notifications as the soundtrack to your life? You breathe in airconditioned rooms ALL. DAY. LONG. You and I both instinctively know this isn’t ideal, but it seems to be the environment most people find themselves living and working in today.

So how do we fix this? Well first off, we need to become more aware of our culture’s tendency to value busyness, how much we buy in to it, and at what expense. You might consider being busy at work means you’re successful, having a full social diary means you’re popular, and being busy with household demands, childcare responsibilities and life admin is a sign of your worth as a family member. But being busy and on the go all the time can mean you don’t have time in your life for the things that really make you happy. With our ‘busy being adults’ mindset turned on, we have unlearned our natural instincts to simply step outside for a breather each day, like we would have done as children.

Experiment with these natural habits to plant seeds of change over the next few weeks. See if you can build a better and more natural relationship between your head and heart and the world you’re part of, then notice your well-being and mood soar.

• Step outside first thing in the morning. Simply sit, listen and appreciate the natural world as it wakes up with you.
• If that’s not possible, then get outside on your lunch break – a short walk *without your phone* can help you to recharge for the afternoon.
• Think about where you eat your meals – what are you looking at? If it’s usually tech, then put it away. On nicer days, eat outside. It’s a relaxed way of enjoying nature while regulating your nervous system at the same time.
• I know, the weather isn’t always on our side, so try to bring nature inside during the colder months if getting outside feels too much (but put on your coat and brave all kinds of weather if you can!). You don’t have to be green fingered, just go for it and add a few house plants to your spaces – it’s an easy way to bring life to your home & office.
• I bet when you exercise it’s in a busy and sweaty room?! I wonder if you could take it outside when you’ve more time, like at weekends? Go running outdoors, walking, biking or sea swimming. Move your body outdoors rather indoors when you can!
• Rather than catching up with your friend in a coffee shop. Get take-outs and go a walk in a park instead. Our modern world makes it easy to be sedentary indoors for most of the week, but you can rectify it by asking friends to meet for a walk outside instead.
• Ideally end your day as you started, with Nature. Step outside after dinner and mindfully observe the moon or stars in the sky. Practice gratitude as you look around – note what you’re grateful for from your own day and then what you appreciate in the natural world too: maybe the warmth of the sun, sound of the rain, brightness of the moon or the smell of freshly cut grass?

Nature teaches us to slow-down and reflect on our own lives, and be thankful for all that we have. Nature also helps steer our attention away from negativity and focus on the hidden treasures in the simple pleasure of life. I’m fully aware ‘get outside more’ seems too simple an idea to make a blog post about, but it’s surprisingly needed. I imagine you instinctively know most of it, but you might not have done many of these natural things in a long time. Here’s your invite to reconnect with your childlike excitement for the outdoors and bring it back to life to thrive and feel happier.