(from How to rewild yourself | Psyche Guides)

In industrialised nations, more than 90 per cent of our time is spent inside buildings and vehicles, many of them constructed with synthetic products. This statistic has entirely flipped during 300,000 years of Homo sapiens' history – we once spent at least 90 per cent of our time outside. The modern indoor lifestyle has adverse effects on our physiology, mood, circadian rhythms, and even our microbiome, because industrial building materials do not provide exposure to the bacteria we co-evolved with. (A healthy, diverse microbiome is important for maintaining a healthy immune system and metabolism.)

It is easy to address this problem because any routine activity can be deliberately moved outside. Choose to sit on the café patio while getting coffee with a friend. Take phone calls while on a neighbourhood walk. If you work with a laptop, you can bring it anywhere. I've been known to work from a low-hanging tree branch! A park bench or picnic table near a local pond can be an attractive place to get your daily dose of vitamin D, fresh air, microbes and bird song, and will give you a live landscape to train your eyes on during breaks (this helps prevent myopia or worsening myopia).

• Participants in a study who spent four days in the wilderness without access to technology demonstrated improved cognitive skills and creativity.
• Numerous other studies have demonstrated that time in natural settings improves mood, cortisol levels, blood pressure, pulse, immune response and overall happiness.
• So, spend free time regularly in the most wild natural settings you can find, especially if you live in an urban area, which tends to increase overall stress levels in residents.
• Research suggests significant benefits can arise from spending just two hours per week in wild settings. I'm fortunate to live in the woods but, when I visit urban areas, I always make a point to go walking in nearby parks, or make stops at open spaces when travelling by car. #Modus Vivendi