Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about one of the best New Year's
Speaker 1: resolutions you can make. It's to get outside for twenty
Speaker 1: minutes a day. Unlike plenty of other resolutions, this one
Speaker 1: will probably put you in a better mood, and if
Speaker 1: you live somewhere cold, dark and gloomy, it can make
Speaker 1: winter seem more doable. I first came across this idea
Speaker 1: for this resolution via the Humans Outside Project. This is
Speaker 1: run by a woman named Amy Bouschatz who lives in
Speaker 1: Alaska with her family. Now Alaska might not seem like
Speaker 1: the 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 what 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: in the slush, and shockingly, I became much more willing
Speaker 1: to do so. I bought a long coat that kept
Speaker 1: the chill off my legs. I also made a choice
Speaker 1: to buy good winter running gear so I could run
Speaker 1: outside instead of on the treadmill as long as conditions
Speaker 1: were safe to do so. I vastly prefer the outside
Speaker 1: scenery to a boring treadmill, so this improved my mood
Speaker 1: right there. Since it's generally better to get outside during
Speaker 1: daylight hours, setting this intention forced me to look at
Speaker 1: my schedule each day and figure out when I could
Speaker 1: take a break. In summer, you could go outside after work,
Speaker 1: but if it's only light from seven thirty am to
Speaker 1: four thirty pm, that might not be the case. But
Speaker 1: it's the rare work day that wouldn't be improved by
Speaker 1: a quick jaunt outside. I made sure to put on
Speaker 1: my boots and do this occasionally, and even on challenging days,
Speaker 1: the commitment to get outside forced me to pay attention
Speaker 1: to the winter landscape and it's old beauties. One day,
Speaker 1: I had to get my minutes in by walking around
Speaker 1: the airport parking garage at the Philadelphia Airport, but the
Speaker 1: sky was actually quite beautiful as the winter sun was
Speaker 1: setting over. Now, yes, I might have been happier to
Speaker 1: see a tropical sunset on a beach, but hey, winter
Speaker 1: beauty is beauty all the same. Now, if you live
Speaker 1: somewhere tropical, you probably don't need to set a resolution
Speaker 1: to get outside for twenty minutes a day, but for
Speaker 1: the rest of us, i'd encourage the idea. That's why
Speaker 1: I'm setting this as a quarterly goal again this year. Well,
Speaker 1: possibly the day I'm in the hospital delivering my baby,
Speaker 1: I might not make it outside for twenty minutes, but
Speaker 1: the other days sure why not getting outside can help
Speaker 1: us experience winter in a whole new way. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.
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