WEEKLY CHALLENGE - Go Outside

This Weeks Weekly Challenge is to go outside for 30 mins every day.

This is good for you because it relieves stress and it will help you sleep as well. Also it's summer, you're meant to be outside enjoying the sun!

Findings from a 2010 study show that "forest bathing"- the practise of walking through a forest - reduced levels of the stress hormone "cortisol" in the blood and decreased blood pressure and heart rate, as well as fatigue and improved mood. You don't need to walk in the forest to get these benefits, also being in a green environment reduces levels of cortisol and gives people an improved mood.

How well you sleep has a lot to do with hormones like melatonin and your own natural circadian rhythm. Both of these are affected by your exposure to light - sunlight, most of all. If you're spending too much time indoors, you're isolated from the source of your body's natural rhythms, and your sleep cycle is likely to suffer.

So this week you can go outside, take a stroll in the park or your neighbourhood and take a breath of that fresh air and soak up the sun! Maybe if you're even more brave and pro, you can spend 3 days totally outside, plan an activity like going to the zoo, shopping or going out with friends and having a picnic. That'll me an extra task for those who want to take it a further step.

It'll be nice to know if this weekly challenge helped you at all, either feeling better or even got you a bit of a tan. Either way, let us know by emailing us your response.