I realize I have written a lot about getting outside, and what we have been doing out there. I will not stop! It is so important to get outside, for your mental and physical health. Have you heard about grounding? If not, Google it, and then come back here. It is so incredibly powerful.

When I was a kid, I would love to go outside and run around barefoot, but my parents and gramma always yelled at me, saying I was going to get sick doing so. I hated wearing shoes, and so I ended up preferring to stay inside, barefoot, curled up with a good book. As I got older, and wiser, I started doing more reading into just what it is about going outside barefoot, and I realized how very important it is to feel the earth beneath your bare feet. Now, I don’t go barefoot when it’s cold out, but I do have some very thin soled shoes that I will wear so I can still feel the variations of the earth beneath my feet (I actually prefer soft soled moccasins to any other form of footwear, because I can actually feel what I’m doing). I have not yet done it for Little Man, because it is still too cold for him, but today I was barefoot in the grass for a bit while he was running around.

I had forgotten how good it is to just stand there feeling the grass and dirt under your feet. I stood there, wiggling my toes around, eyes closed, listening to Little Man as he giggled and stomped around, hearing the wind blowing through the trees, the peeps and chirps of the birds as they flitted around. I immediately felt 100% better! Now, if you don’t like that feeling underfoot, you can still reap the benefits of the outdoors, just getting out for a few minutes to stand in the sunlight (even if it’s cloudy, it still works) and breathe in the air works wonders.

My favourite time to be outside? Right before and right after it rains. There is a distinct smell on the air as a storm rolls in, and I can think of nothing better than the smell as those first few drops start to hit the ground. I love a good spring storm, where it’s lightly raining, and just standing there, hearing the pitter patter of the rain drops, and smelling the change in earth. Immediately after the storm, the world smells fresh and new; petrichor, it’s called, and it is another one of those amazingly fresh and clean scents.

I have not been able to find a commercial scent that rivals either one of these; I am not a fan of those scents at all, they make me feel sick. There is a reason I stick with unscented soaps and lotions; the smelly ones just smell too fake, and they are so overpowering! I love essential oils, but again, they cannot do justice for what Mother Nature does easily on her own.

The other plus side to rainstorms? When it’s warmer out, standing in the puddles, feeling the rainwater make its way through the grass. Remember as a kid, loving to jump and splash in the puddles? It is just as fun as an adult. Being at the lake, there are little creeks and streams all around that go to feed it (what’s the difference between a creek, stream, and brook anyway?), and they are so shallow and rocky. On hot days when we are on the trails, I will often stop by one of them and go wade through, soaking up the feel of the cold water rushing over my feet.

You know, in today’s day and age, we are so far removed from nature. From the incredibly high amount of time we spend indoors, in front of screens that emit unnatural light, to the thick soled shoes that do not allow us to really use out bodies the way thy are meant to (Have you ever noticed the difference in walking outside in shoes versus not, especially over uneven surfaces? Try it sometime.), to the manufactured scents that try so hard to recreate natural ones, I think we have forgotten what it truly means to just get outside and BE in nature. Tomorrow, make some time to get outside, take those shoes off (even if it’s cold, just do it for a minute or two), and close your eyes. Spend a minute (or longer, if it’s not too cold!) just being in nature, and use your senses to feel, smell, and hear what is happening around you. Take note of your emotions before, during, and after, and see what changes. You can thank me later.