FRESH VIEWS ABOUT FRESH AIR

Beautiful atmospheres make a difference!

Atmosphere can change your mind, body and soul. There’s new evidence that shows that people who experience periodic exposure to the atmosphere outdoors are healthier and happier.

According to a 2014 study published by the Girl Scout Research Institute, More Than S’mores, outdoor atmospheres had a great positive impact on the girls as a whole.

Scouts who regularly spent more time outdoors outperformed others in endeavors such as seeking challenges, environmental stewardship, and solving problems.

Furthermore, girls in lesser socioeconomic conditions who participated in outdoor activities were shown to be more likely to credit the Girl Scouts for helping them become leaders.

But you don’t need to be a girl scout or live in the mountains to reap the benefits of a fresh air atmosphere! Research has demonstrated that spending time in the great outdoors can affect you positively regardless of your circumstances. In 2013, some 10,000 Canadians and 250 workplaces participated in the David Suzuki Foundation’s 30x30 Nature Challenge. The event encouraged participants to spend at least 30 minutes outside over a course of 30 days.

Participants reported “significant increases in their sense of well-being, feeling more vitality and energy, while feelings of stress, negativity, and sleep disturbances were all reduced,” according to the foundation’s report.

So tap into the joys of a fresh atmosphere: clear your head, breathe deep, drink in some beauty, and whatever you do, get outside!

In addition, if you live in an area high enough to enjoy coniferous forests, it would certainly do you well to get outside more. Another 2013 study showed that smelling pine can lower depression and anxiety.

Read more about Beautiful Atmosphere, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including The Character of Atmosphere, Capturing Air & Atmosphere, Beautifully, Now!, Raspberry Galaxy and Woody Whiskey Atmosphere, Atmosphere as Art: New Works, Incredible Places to Enjoy Beautiful Atmospheres, and New Atmospheres to Clear Your Head.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Atmosphere in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 06.29.14. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Photo: by Lotus Carroll. “Summer Essentials: Spring Karate.”
2. Photo: by James Marvin Phelps. “Upper Tahquamenon Falls.”
3. Photo: by Pavlina Jane. “Let’s play before it gets dark.”
4. Photo: by Andrew Hubbell. “Canada Goose.”
5. Photo: by Jeff Krause. Yosemite at Sunrise.
6. Photo: by Chris Zielecki. Preikestolen, Norway.
7. Photo: by Sebastian Anthony. Shannon, at the top of the Old Man of Storr (Isle of Skye)
8. Photo: by Miles Wolstenholme. “Warming Sunlight in Abbeyford Woods.”
9. Photo: by Jeff Krause. St. Mary Lake.