When The Weather Is Nice Go Outside, Take A Walk
The weather can be Sunny, Stormy, or Gloomy and so can our mood. The way we feel on any day may be tied to the weather in ways science is just beginning to understand.
Many people are aware that spending time outdoors on a Sunny day, and allowing the Sun to shine on bare skin, is necessary for the body to produce Vitamin D, which also plays a role in serotonin production.
Serotonin is the brain hormone associated with mood elevation.
It rises with exposure to bright light and falls with decreased Sun exposure. This is a Key reason why bright-light therapy is so effective for treating people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is sometimes aka Winter Depression.
A Sunny day can make you feel inexplicably happy, but only if you can go outdoors.
People who are stuck indoors on a Sunny day may feel their mood fall, and the weather also has significant and often subconscious effects on behavior and more.
The association between weather and psychological changes has led to some inconsistent results. Research published in the journal Psychological Science found this may be due to 2 important factors:
- The season
- How much time is spent outside
Pleasant weather is associated with higher mood, better memory and broadened cognitive style during the Spring as time spent outside increased. The same could not be said for mood and weather during other times of the year, and the hot Summer months were associated with lower mood.
The researchers reasoned that pleasant Springtime weather has such a positive effect because people have been deprived of pleasant weather during the Winter.
Researcher Matthew Keller summed it up quite simply by saying, “If you wish to reap the psychological benefits of good Springtime weather, go outside.”
When the Sun comes out, people may alter their behavior without realizing it.
Studies suggest that on Sunny days people help each other more and leave more generous tips when eating at restaurants.
Research published in The Journal of Finance even found Sunshine is significantly associated with stock returns, while rain and snow are not.
Looking to find a date, people are known fare better when the weather’s Sunny.
One French study found women were more receptive to giving their phone number to an attractive stranger on Sunny days compared to cloudy days, providing their number 22% of the time Vs 14% of the time.
Another study conducted by the same researcher, French psychologist Nicolas Guéguen, found drivers were more likely to pick up hitchhikers on Sunny days than they were on cloudy days. “Perhaps the positive mood induced by the sunshine promotes helping behaviors,” he and a colleague concluded.
Separate research revealed that the further the temperature rises or falls from an ideal 68 F, the lower helping rates become.
The take-home message here is this, “when it’s nice outside, get outdoors and soak it in as often as you can. Parks, nature preserves and backyards can all provide children and adults with much-needed access to Green space too, so for the best results try to take in nice weather while surrounded by nature.”
Live in a locale with frequent poor weather and you believe it’s negatively affecting your mood? Then consider moving to a region with a better climate.
Eat healthy, Be healthy, Live lively.
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
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