Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is about one of the best New Year's resolutions
Speaker 1: you can make. It's to get outside for twenty minutes
Speaker 1: a day. Unlike plenty of other resolutions, this one will
Speaker 1: probably put you in a better mood, and if you
Speaker 1: live somewhere cold, dark and gloomy, it can make winter
Speaker 1: seem more doable. I first came across this idea for
Speaker 1: this resolution via the Humans Outside Project. This is run
Speaker 1: by a woman named Amy Bouschatz who lives in Alaska
Speaker 1: with her family. Now Alaska might not seem like the
Speaker 1: best place to get outside for twenty minutes a day,
Speaker 1: especially in say January, but Amy has committed to doing
Speaker 1: it and to enjoying what the natural world has to offer.
Speaker 1: Sometimes with the natural world has to offer is absolutely spectacular.
Speaker 1: And sometimes being outside for twenty minutes a day means
Speaker 1: a quick walk outside the airport before a long day
Speaker 1: of flying. But either way, fresh air is a known
Speaker 1: mood booster. Even cold, sleety conditions can make you feel
Speaker 1: more energized by the time you go back inside, so
Speaker 1: I decided to adopt this as one of my quarterly
Speaker 1: resolutions during a recent winter, and I have to say
Speaker 1: I am a big fan. Pennsylvania, where I live isn't Alaska,
Speaker 1: but still winter can be cold, icy, and generally not
Speaker 1: that pleasant. There's always a tendency to hibernate, especially when
Speaker 1: the sun sets at four thirty pm around the solstice.
Speaker 1: But committing to get outside for twenty minutes a day
Speaker 1: changed my relationship with winter. Because I knew I would
Speaker 1: be outside, I decided to get better outdoor gear. I
Speaker 1: finally bought waterproof boots so I could wait around outside
Speaker 1: the slush, and shockingly, I became much more willing to
Speaker 1: do so. I bought a long coat that kept the
Speaker 1: chill off my legs. I also made a choice to
Speaker 1: buy good winter running gear so I could run outside
Speaker 1: instead of on the treadmill as long as conditions were
Speaker 1: safe to do so. I vastly prefer the outside scenery
Speaker 1: to a boring treadmill, so this improved my mood right there.
Speaker 1: Since it's generally better to get outside during daylight hours,
Speaker 1: setting this intention forced me to look at my schedule
Speaker 1: each day and figure out when I could take a break.
Speaker 1: In summer, you could go outside after work, but if
Speaker 1: it's only light from seven thirty am to four thirty pm,
Speaker 1: that might not be the case. But it's the rare
Speaker 1: work day that wouldn't be improved by a quick jaunt outside.
Speaker 1: I made sure to put on my boots and do
Speaker 1: this occasionally, and even on challenging days, the commitment to
Speaker 1: get outside forced me to pay attention to the winter
Speaker 1: landscape and it's beauties. One day, I had to get
Speaker 1: my minutes in by walking around the airport parking garage
Speaker 1: at the Philadelphia Airport, but the sky was actually quite
Speaker 1: beautiful as the winter sun was setting over I ninety five. Now, yes,
Speaker 1: I might have been happier to see a tropical sunset
Speaker 1: on a beach, but hey, winter beauty is beauty all
Speaker 1: the same. Now, if you live somewhere tropical, you probably
Speaker 1: don't need to set a resolution to get outside for
Speaker 1: twenty minutes a day, but for the rest of us,
Speaker 1: i'd encourage the idea. That's why I'm setting this as
Speaker 1: a quarterly goal again this year. Well, possibly the day
Speaker 1: I'm in the hospital delivering my baby. I might not
Speaker 1: make it outside for twenty minutes, but the other days. Sure,
Speaker 1: why not? Getting outside can help us experience winter in
Speaker 1: a whole new way. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then
Speaker 1: Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an email at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: Should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
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