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BOOST It’s time to shake off the winter blues and spring into action with renewed energy and motivation, says Rebecca Watts at TheStudios40. Spring is incredible for lifting your spirits and focusing on your health goals. Here’s a few ways you can boost both your physical and mental health.
Longer days
In days gone by, people lived by the seasons and would only be out and about in daylight hours. However, our modern busy lives are the same whatever the season. It’s not unusual in the winter months for people to go to and come home from work in the dark. With the lack of natural daylight sapping our physical and mental energy, it’s not surprising that as many as 1 in 3 people in the UK suffer from seasonal affective disorder or SAD. But the start of spring brings lighter and longer days and with it a new wave of energy and motivation. It’s important that we make the most of these longer days and use them to be active. Try getting up 30 minutes earlier and take the dog for a walk, go for a run or cycle to work. Alternatively make a stop at the gym on your way home.
Seasonal sun
There’s something about sunny spring mornings that boosts our feel-good hormones. Even if it’s a little chilly, the sunshine helps to lifts our spirits. The sun is also our best source of vitamin
D, needed to promote healthy bones as well as support our immune, brain and nervous systems. The amount of sun needed each day is not an exact science and can vary with skin colour and type, but it is thought that as little as 9 minutes a day can help to boost your reserves. Get your daily dose of Vitamin D with a 10-15 minutes lunchtime walk and use your weekends to get the most from the sunshine and the great outdoors. Put away your phones and tablets and reconnect with nature, which will naturally boost your mental health too.
cleaning or refreshing your home with a lick of paint. Join a litter picking club or tree planting initiative and you’ll be keeping active and giving something back to the community too.
Spring clean
Exercise doesn’t have to be all about sweating in the gym or hyperventilating on a long run. Spring offers the opportunity to be active in other ways. Whether you’re exploring local bike trails, playing frisbee in the park or taking a woodland walk, it’s all good mood enhancing fun.
Spring is the perfect time for vegetable lovers, when local, seasonal foods become varied and more exciting. Eating seasonally and locally, is not only better for the environment it’s great for your health too. Fruit and vegetables have been shown to be more nutritional in their natural seasons, they are grown more naturally, they taste better and work more effectively with our own natural cycles. Spring sees the start of leafy greens, salad fruit and vegetables and asparagus. Why not support your local farmers or get the children involved and grow your own?
There are plenty of household chores that can keep you active too. Think gardening, mowing the lawn, spring
So put a spring in your step by resetting your goals for the months ahead.
Alternative activities
URBAN FOX MARCH 2020 15
