Sunshine And Fresh Air: Five Things They Do For Your Body And Mind
Elizabeth Lees ยท
"By all means, never fail to get all the sunshine and fresh air you can." Joseph Pilates
Joseph Pilates wrote about fresh air and sunshine long before anyone was studying it. He saw time outdoors as part of a healthy body, right alongside movement, breathing and rest. Nearly a century on, the research has caught up with him.
Here in Wollongong we are spoilt. The escarpment on one side, the ocean on the other, and spring weather that makes it very easy to get outside. So here are five things sunshine and fresh air do for you, each one backed by an Australian government health source or a major university study.
1. Sunlight Builds Your Bones
Your skin makes vitamin D when sunlight reaches it, and vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium from food. That calcium is what keeps bones strong. For most Australians, sunlight is the main source of vitamin D, because very few foods contain much of it.
Healthdirect, the Australian Government health advice service, notes that in summer a few minutes outside on most days is usually enough, often just through everyday outdoor activity. In the cooler months, time outdoors around the middle of the day with some skin uncovered helps keep levels up.
One important note: when the UV index is 3 or above, protect your skin. You do not need to burn to make vitamin D. Short, regular time outside is the goal.
Source: Healthdirect, Vitamin D and your health.
2. Daylight Lifts Your Mood And Helps You Sleep
A Monash University study of more than 400,000 people found that spending more time in outdoor daylight was linked to fewer symptoms of depression, better sleep, fewer insomnia symptoms and easier waking in the morning.
The researchers suggest daylight works on two fronts. It sets your body clock, so you are sleepy at the right time of night, and it acts directly on the parts of the brain that regulate mood. This was a large observational study, so it shows a strong association rather than proving cause, but the message is consistent with what we see in the studio. People who get outside during the day tend to sleep and feel better.
Source: Monash University, Journal of Affective Disorders, 2021.
3. Twenty Minutes Outside Lowers Your Stress Hormones
Researchers at the University of Michigan asked people to spend time in nature at least three times a week for eight weeks and measured cortisol, the body's main stress hormone, before and after. Participants chose where and when, as long as it was somewhere outside that felt natural to them.
Cortisol dropped significantly, and the biggest drop came from 20 to 30 minutes of time outdoors. Longer visits added a little more benefit, but the first 20 minutes did most of the work.
That is roughly a walk along the water before or after your class.
Source: University of Michigan, Frontiers in Psychology, 2019.
4. A Walk In Nature Sharpens Memory And Attention
In a University of Michigan study published in Psychological Science, people who walked in a park improved on memory and attention tasks afterwards. People who walked busy city streets did not.
The explanation is that city environments demand constant directed attention, dodging traffic, reading signs, filtering noise. Natural settings hold your attention gently without draining it, which gives the brain a chance to recover. If you have ever come back from a bush walk feeling clearer, that is why.
Source: University of Michigan, Psychological Science, 2008.
5. Two Hours A Week Is The Dose
A University of Exeter study of nearly 20,000 people in England found that those who spent at least 120 minutes a week in nature were significantly more likely to report good health and higher wellbeing than those who spent no time in nature at all. Under two hours, there was no measurable benefit. Over two hours, there was.
The good news is that it did not matter whether the time came in one long visit or several short ones, and the benefit held across ages, occupations, incomes and for people living with long term illness or disability.
Two hours a week is a realistic target for most of us. A couple of walks, a swim, a coffee outside, and you are there.
Source: University of Exeter, Scientific Reports, 2019.
Putting It Together
None of this is complicated. Joseph Pilates said it in one sentence, and the research now says it with large studies: regular time outside, in daylight and fresh air, supports your bones, your mood, your sleep, your stress levels and your thinking.
Movement and fresh air belong together. Walk or ride to the studio when you can. Take the long way home along the beach. Do your Pilates breathing somewhere with a view. Your body will thank you for all of it.
Pilates in Wollongong, with a lot of sunshine and fresh air close by. Book your first class at humansinmovement.com.