One of the things that have always bugged me has been how so many kids refuse to get outside and just live. I remember being a child and loving to be outside, going to the park, getting to play soccer. I remember I would beg my parents to let me outside and just take in all that was out there for me. If I can be honest, just from being outside I would see my mood completely change in excitement of being with friends and family. I started to do a bit of research and I realized that a lot of the things I experience being outside, are scientifically proven benefits of being outside. I just wanted to share this whether you are a child who just wants to be indoors or an adult, being outside rocks! According to Harvard Health Publishing, “Over all, research is showing that many vitamins, while necessary, don't have such great disease-fighting powers, but vitamin D may prove to be the exception. Epidemiologic studies are suggesting it may have protective effects against everything from osteoporosis to cancer to depression to heart attacks and stroke”. Harvard Health Letter (https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/a-prescription-for-better-health-go-alfresco)Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that we normally get from being outside in the sun, but unfortunately a lot of people aren’t doing that. Lesley Marian Neilson, spokesperson for the Nature Conservancy of Canada found “that four out of 10 Canadians say they don't spend any recreational time away from human-made environments at all.” This is awful. Canadians too lazy, busy to go outside and play: surveyhttps://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/canadians-too-lazy-busy-to-go-outside-and-play-survey-1.4852537)This is causing critical health issues on so many Canadians and they don’t even know it. I am a true believer that if people would just get outside, they would experience numerous health benefits, and just overall feel a lot better. We weren’t made to be staring at screens for 8-10 hours a day. Being Canadian, I can always count on finding a new trail, or a new hike, or a new adventure in the great outdoors. But just going into your backyard or just sitting on your front porch for a few moments. Read a book. Talk to your neighbour. Take in the sun, or the surrounding sounds. Just a few moments outside can make a real difference.A special memory I have is when my mother was sick with cancer. Whenever she would have her bad days, after radiation or chemotherapy, she would always insist on my dad to take her out into the country, and at first I never understood why she liked to do this until I started tagging a long with them. All my problems, thoughts, worries, and fears would just disappear. Just taking in the vastness of the outdoors, the endless fields. It was therapy for me. Nature has this special power that just brings families together. We continue to do these drives now that my mom has been cleared from cancer, and those moments just bring us so much closer to each other. We aren’t distracted by the technology that normally haunts us while we are home. No, there’s peace. Tranquility. Those moments are the only real time where I feel my mind is resting, at ease.

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