In today's technological world, most people spend a lot of time indoors every day - especially during the colder months. Kids spend at least six hours a day in school. Many adults spend at least eight hours inside of the buildings where they work. We spend all night in our homes: eating, playing, and sleeping. When do we take the time to enjoy the “great outdoors”? Fresh air is highly underrated - and highly important for your health. Getting out of doors on a regular basis can improve one’s health and sense of well-being.
The air that we breathe on the inside is not as fresh as we need it to be. Dust is a fact of every day life. It collects on every surface. As we try to get rid of it, the dust swirls around us and makes its way into our respiratory system via nose and mouth. In your homes, if you cook and occasionally burn a meal or two, those fumes get inhaled also. We need a break from the indoor air. Companies try to sell us products to clean our home or office air, but really there is just no substitute for fresh air.
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| Get fresh air even in winter! (Photo credit: tonynetone) |
Fresh air cleans our lungs. Especially when it's cold outside, we may cough a bit at first as our lungs are getting rid of the impurities and toxins that we suck up on a weekly basis. But, after a while we’ll begin to breathe deeper and deeper which brings more oxygen to our cells, which helps them cleanse and detoxify. The increased oxygen also brings with it increased energy to do the things we need to do. More oxygen brings greater clarity to the brain, which needs twenty percent of our body’s oxygen to function. We can think better than we could before.
Exercises performed outdoors in fresh air offer increased aerobic benefits. More clean air in, helps improve our breathing technique. Better technique increases stamina. More oxygen to the muscles reduces that lactic acid build-up in the muscles which leads to cramping.
Fresh air cannot be found everywhere outdoors. In large cities where factories operate day and night, spewing smoke and particles into the air, fresh, clean air is at a premium. For these people, getting out of the city and into nature as often as possible will bring their bodies the detoxifying and energizing benefits of fresh air.
A program called The Fresh Air Fund was started in 1877 by a non-profit organization. Their goal was to introduce disadvantaged children living in the inner cities to the “great outdoors”. The program was started in New York to benefit the city’s youth. A man, by the name of Reverend Parsons asked his parishioners to volunteer to host inner city youth for a time away in the country. They agreed and The Fresh Air Fund was born. The program still flourishes today, offering a choice of five camps in upstate New York for the city’s children to enjoy time away and learn about country life. Look for a program like this in your area if you live in a large city, and get your kids involved.
Fresh air produces a healthy mind and body, cleaner lungs, and a calmer constitution when we actively breathe it. Getting outdoors should not be a chore, but a privilege. Enjoy the earth and get your dose of fresh air today!
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