Getting Into the Sunshine - for Honeybee
- Holli Best
- Feb 1
- 3 min read
In a previous post we mentioned three ways to boost your immune system. However, it’s not really fair to stop there. The immune system is supported by more than being outside, sleeping enough and eating well. Here we want to give a bit more detail about why holistic healthy living matters, how this strengthens the immune system and builds lifelong health. You will see that each of the things we list are reliant on the others. This list is very interconnected and each behavior and lifestyle choice needs the other to be fully successful.
Here is our list for a holistic approach to living healthy:
Get outside into the sunshine
Get enough sleep
Eat nutrient rich foods
Build supportive and safe community
Manage stress in healthy ways
Get outside in the sunshine - Playing outside is the first one on the list because
it is vital to healthy living. For many children and teens, the majority of their day is spent indoors. Getting outside isn’t just about the sun and vitamin D absorption, but also about being physically active. Why is vitamin D important for healthy living? Vitamin D is necessary for calcium storing in the blood and bones. For children this can mean incorrect bone growth, discomfort or pain in the muscles and bones or weakness in the bones. For children, these are rare and extreme cases typically in severe deficiencies. However, as our culture increasingly continues to be inside and sedentary we are seeing it affect the health of children and teens. It is also important to mention that we can only absorb so much through our skin, we also need to be eating foods that have Vitamin D such as some fish, eggs and orange juice with vitamin D added. Being outside encourages playful physical activity, spaces for children to “work” and problem solve, spaces to be alone and curious or working collaboratively with peers and friends. You will see that the remaining four elements of healthy living are all taking place in this first one. Playing and being active helps children and teens sleep better, work up appetites that encourage a wider range of eating, can provide community and manage stress in healthy ways.
Some ideas for getting kids outside:
Give them a garden space - even if this is for digging, having a mud kitchen or having a few herbs from the grocery store. Watching things grow is a great way to get children outside.
Family walks - include children in outside chores like walking the dog and taking out the recycling, taking a short loop around the block after dinner or on weekends try to visit one of your local hiking trails.
Backyard play - the best way to get your children into the yard is to make comfortable places for parents too, if adults feel good outside, children will follow. You don’t have to have fancy play equipment to have a fun backyard.
Be okay with dirt - dirt and mess need to be encouraged!
Here are a few of our favorite resources for getting sunshine and playing outside:
1000 Hours Outside - this is a great resource for getting ideas to play outside as a family
Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots by Shannon Lovejoy - ideas for playing and growing in the garden
Tinkergarten - look for local nature based education programs in your area. This is just one example, but there are many nature immersion education programs on the rise
State Parks - look into the programs your local state parks offer. This is a great way to get teens involved in outdoor education programs. Many state parks have a junior naturalist program for teenagers. This is a great way for them to be outside, learning life skills, experiencing hands on with nature, learning responsibility and earning volunteer hours if needed for their high school credits.
City parks - visit your city parks, playgrounds offer safe places for children to develop social skills, problem solving skills, practice risk taking in safe ways, developing coordination, critical-thinking and gain self-confidence in their newfound or practiced abilities.
Be well,
Gainesville Doula
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