Wherever you are, signs of spring are everywhere! In Austin, the Mountain-Laurel bush is filling the air with the scent of grape Pixy Stix. Thanks to all the rainfall, the super bloom in and around San Diego is bursting with fields of poppies. And in Tulsa, where I live, the trees are beginning to sprout vibrant buds that will soon turn bright green and completely cover the trees---revealing exactly why the Tulsa area is called "Green Country".
Spring is the season of miracles--showcasing over and over again how something that appears dormant and dead actually isn't dead at all. Instead, nature is doing what it needs to do so it can grow into everything God created it to be. Of all the seasons, Spring is the cheerful season that provides us with an ongoing element of surprise. Every day something new, blissful and worthwhile emerges and it's all worth noticing.
In addition to witnessing the inspiring reawakening and awe of nature, science continues to prove that time outdoors is critical to living a healthy, well and low-stress life. Per the book, The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter, spending 20-minutes outside (preferably where there are trees, grass, etc) and without the phone has life-changing benefits.
The research is:
An outdoor twenty-minute walk, three times per week, around trees/grass/nature, causes profound changes in the neurological structure of our brains. It leaves us feeling calmer and with sharper and more productive, creative minds and it causes cortisol levels to drop, BUT the research found that people who used their phones on the walk see none of those benefits.
Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and spiritual satisfaction.
Science is proving that the outdoors is one of the potent antidotes to the modern human condition of chronic disease, and being overstressed, overstimulated, and overworked.
Regardless if you're exercising outdoors, I encourage you to add a twenty-minute outdoor walk everyday and observe the magnificence of Spring. If you do take your phone, put it on "Do Not Disturb" and avoid listening to anything or talking on it, as science has also proven that sounds of chirping birds lowers stress levels too. Instead, use your phone to capture pictures of everything that inspires you.
Love,