12 days of Christmas~ Self LOVE challenge ~ DAY 4

Its day 4 ya’ll!!! How is the self love challenge going for you so far? I’m hoping the dancing vibes got you a bit more flowy and aligned yesterday. I know movement always gets me feeling more alive and mentally fit.

Today we’re going to be going on a different kind of self love journey.

This time OUTSIDE! Day four is all about taking a 15 minute walk in NATURE.

If you’re living in Upstate, NY like I am…you’re likely looking at the thermometer and thinking. Um…its 2 degrees outside. I’m not going out there. As my motto goes, “There is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing is all…”

Sling on those toasty warm under layers and lets get moving shall we?

Here are a few reasons why you’ll thank me for this…

1. Walking in cold air helps you burn more calories than usual because you’r body has to work harder to stay warm.
2. Once you’re body gets moving, endorphins will be released into your blood stream to help you combat the lack of sunlight which is common during these shorter days of the year. Endorphins = Euphoric feelings. (are you still with me here?)
3. Speaking of sunlight. Did you know that even 15 minutes of sunlight on your skin 3x a week will help replenish Vitamin D reserves! Why is this important? Well because your body needs sunlight/vitamin D to produce serotonin, which is the hormone that tells your body…”I’m calm, I’m focused, I got this”

Need I say more???

So clearly we can see that walking outside in the winter is crucial, but why in nature?

Well, here’s some interesting thoughts on this.

1.Did you know that spending time in nature can reduce your risk of getting CANCER?! Um, yes, seriously. Check out this awesome research study that was done in Tokyo where they they tested the NK cell response in patients who spent time in nature. FASCINATING INDEED!!!

2. Walking in the nature can help your brain work better! Yep…check this out. Look what happens when you put a bunch of children into nature and test their cognitive functioning. Increased CONFIDENCE, CALMER in the classroom, greater AGILITY…

3. And lastly, forest walking compared to urban walking…it decreases your blood pressure! Check out this study where they compared the two.

So what do all of these studies exactly have to do with self love?

One of the greatest steps you can take towards achieving a greater sense of self love, is by loving YOUR BODY! Loving your body, is all about doing the things that boost your immunity, increase cognitive functioning, and lower your blood pressure.

Therefore, I’m personally concluding that walking in nature for even 15 minutes is basically a cosmic self love boosting elixir. If I were to prescribe such things, which I guess I can’t technically do because I’m not a Dr….(but if I could…ahem) I would say, DO IT EVERYDAY for optimal results!

I’m curious to see if it helps shift the vibes for you? Try it out for the next week (or at the very least just today) and report the results below. I’d also LOVE to see where you decided to go outside, feel free to post a photo in the comments!