How Joyful Outdoor Activities Affected My Health And Fitness

This article introduces my two major experiments with careful use of sunlight and barefoot walking on sands and grass over five years.

Photo by Guzmán Barquín on Unsplash

Mystery and paradox of sunlight

Like many Westerners, for many years, I feared the sun. Living in the Southern hemisphere prevented me from exposing my body to the sun. A plethora of scary advertisements and documentaries on television and media, demonstrating people acquiring melanoma from sun exposure looked terrible and discouraged me.

The media highlighted the lack of intelligence in staying under the sun nude and for a long time. No one wants to experience skin cancer. I was adamant about protecting myself.

However, none of these ads and documentaries pointed out the use of the sun for a short period. The message manifested as a binary guide showing the sunlight as evil with no exceptions. Based on my gut feelings and prior knowledge from anthropology, I had my suspicions of these ads and documentaries, but I chose to comply with them. I regret my unquestioned compliance now.

The body of knowledge depicted that ultraviolet-B radiation in sunlight was needed to form Vitamin D in our bodies. Medical literature highlighted the significance of Vitamin D as an essential hormone-like ingredient for a healthy body.

The medical literature is full of evidence on Vitamin D as a preventative for inflammation, relaxing muscles, and protecting against some cancers, contrary to the message in the scary documents.

I kept thinking about this issue for a long time and asked questions. Why did our ancestors walk under the sun for thousands of years? Reading papers from anthropology, I understood that our genetic codes might have adapted to sunlight. These pieces of information made encouraged me to act differently.

By respecting the norms, I wanted to take personal responsibility and took risks to try. I was happy to face ramifications.

With this inspiring thought and joyful feeling coupled with witnessing lots of people using the sun in intelligent ways, I attempted to stay under the sunlight 15 minutes a day for several months. I exposed at least 40 per cent of my body to sunlight.

After a year, using sunlight therapy intelligently and with precaution, I gained tremendous positive health benefits.

The most noticeable and proven benefit was an increased Vitamin D level in my bloodstream, which reached an optimal level in my blood markers.

After another year, I experienced noticeable improvements in my hormonal balance. More specifically, my testosterone levels increased substantially.

I used to suffer from elevated cortisol due to a stressful life. With increased testosterone, my elevated cortisol level turned normal.

The biggest problem in my life was overwhelming inflammation. My body created substantial inflammation caused by the autoimmune condition rheumatoid arthritis.

After the third year, my inflammation decreased substantially. It was evident from my blood inflation markers. I regularly get checked, my CRP (C-reactive Protein), ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate and PV (Plasma Viscosity) once every six months.

After the fourth year of trying regular sunlight exposure, a life-changing transformation happened. I used to have chronic insomnia and mood swings for many years. Symptoms of insomnia and blues disappeared without using any medication. My mental health gained momentum with smart sun exposure.

After the fifth year, I felt fully transformed into the new person that I desired.

I still keep the risks of excessive sunlight in mind; thus, I am regularly getting checked for potential risks and hazards such as melanoma. Touch-wood, I haven’t experienced any side effects of sunlight so far. I am grateful that my Vitamin D, Testosterone, and cortisol levels are still optimal.

Early morning sun gives me great pleasure. My days flow smoothly. Looking at the sun a few minutes as the first thing in the mornings, I sleep beautifully at night because this practice resets my circadian rhythm. Early morning sun exposure inhibits the melatonin production process. My morning drowsiness rapidly disappears.

My second crucial outdoor activity is barefoot walking.

Photo by Ham Kris on Unsplash

Once upon a time, when our child just started walking, the family nurse asked us to encourage him to walk barefoot. When I asked her the reasons, she pointed out that it would help him perceive and notice his body's position better with constant feedback from the movement.

When I was reviewing the literature, I came across a term called “proprioception”. It means awareness of the position and movement of the body. The words of our wise nurse echoed in my ears.

I enjoy walking barefoot around the beach in the sand during the summer. I also walk barefoot on green grasses in parks and beautiful gardens. Like many neighbours in my suburb, I have a nice backyard with well-maintained and trimmed green grass.

My garden is my therapy centre. I don’t eat green stuff, but I love looking at green grass, trees, and attractive flowers like roses and lilies.

Walking barefoot on the grass by looking at beautiful trees and flowers brings a lot of instant joy to my life. During the summer, it is a regular habit for me. Nowadays, I even try walking on the grass barefoot during the winter.

Apart from our wise nurse's advice, I noticed a massive trend for barefoot walking in online health communities. I read many anecdotes from people feeling great about barefoot walking.

The testimonials on stress reduction from barefoot walking were compelling. Surprisingly, later I read research papers mentioning stress reduction quantitatively. Some papers even pointing out a 60% reduction.

From many sources online, the most convincing argument for me was the benefit of walking on the sand or grass relating to electrons transferred from the body. They said that negatively charged electrons from our body can be absorbed and neutralised by the earth.

I found this argument convincing because I experienced the feeling by walking barefoot on grass and sand. I also experimented with a piece of earthing equipment I purchased online. Later, I replicated my findings using other earthing products such as bedsheets. The only con of using bedsheets was the cost. They were ten times more expensive than my usual bedsheets.

I want to point out one caveat about this experiment. Even though these earthing products helped me feel good, they were not as effective as walking barefoot on sand and green grass.

I only use these earthing products as supplementary sources on freezing and stormy days when it is impossible to walk outside.

One of the most valuable aspects of the barefoot walk's earthing effect was my sleep quality. When I walk around the beach or on the grass, I fall asleep quickly. My sleep quality also improves. I constantly monitor my daily sleep patterns. I developed patterns related to barefoot walking that showed benefits for good quality sleep.

I made barefoot walking a habit. My daily goal is ten thousand steps a day.

Sticking to these goals, I reaped many fitness and health benefits. I maintain a healthy weight, reserve my lean muscles and stay in a good mood most of the times.

Slow and steady barefoot walking around 90 minutes equating to ten thousand steps became a transformational tool for me.

Apart from my smartwatch to monitor my barefoot walk steps and sleep quality, I also monitor my heart rate variability. It is an indicator of my cardiovascular health.

By experimenting, I proved that the barefoot walking brought many benefits to me. I also read testimonials and some speculations and deductions. Wearing my scientist hat, I would not go too far for endorsing the speculations. But I can confidently share my experience of ten thousand steps barefoot for improving cardiovascular health, autonomic nervous system balance, improvements in blood viscosity, and boosting mood.

I am closely following studies on the barefoot walk and looking forward to seeing more convincing research on the promising benefits of barefoot walking on sand and grass.

Thank you for reading my perspectives.

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Disclaimer: I shared my personal experience for information purposes only. This article does not provide medical or therapeutic advice. I presented my experiments for a biographical representation of my personal life experience. I do not make any claims and recommendations.