Benefits of Morning Walks

Benefits of Morning Walks

 

Top 10 Benefits of Morning Walks

Benefits of morning walks

The Benefits of Morning Walks

Waking up early can be quite challenging for many of us. But getting out of bed early and doing some physical activity such as a simple walk can help you start the day right. Not to mention, morning walks also have several benefits to your health and well being.

A morning walk is a perfect activity you can do to ease up the rigidness of your body. On a clear day, it's also the best way to catch the beauty of the sunrise. Here are several benefits of morning walks you shouldn’t take for granted.

Gives You Momentum

If you want things to get done for the day, it's important to keep your ball running early. A morning walk is the best method to give yourself momentum. As you walk around your area, you also get the opportunity to observe the neighbourhood wake up and get ready for the day. This makes you more aware and connected with your surroundings.

By itself, an early stroll is already an accomplishment that only a few people can do each day. Scratching off your morning walk in your to-do list gives you the confidence to finish the other items on your list.

Allows You to Reflect

Another advantage of morning walks is it gives you time to reflect on some important things in your life. Mornings usually aren’t as hectic and as distracting as the rest of the day. Hence, you can think freely and be positive about the day.

As you reflect, it can also present you with the opportunity to be grateful for what you have. Just being able to walk and move around is already a blessing in itself. Thinking about everything good about your life also lessens your negative thoughts and doubts.

Benefits of morning walks snow

Builds a “No Excuses” Persona

Aside from a positive mindset, a morning walk can also help us to be better “go-getters.” By doing this early morning activity regardless of how we feel, it helps us be a person with no excuses. And without excuses slowing us down, we can be unstoppable on everything we set our sights on.

Another perk of walking in the morning is that we can understand ourselves more. People’s routines are also connected with their personality. Morning people are often known to be hardworking and optimistic, that is why they can’t wait to start the day. A simple walk may reveal that you are at a point in your life that you want to get more out of life.

Allows You to Plan the Day

 Another unpopular benefit of a morning walk is it allows you to set your goals and priorities for the day. It's a minimally distracting activity where you can still think while doing your simple routine. By gaining a sort of foresight, you can map out all of the things you need to finish on the day.

Because you are not yet on the nit and grit of the day, you can plan which tasks need precedence over the other. More importantly, the value of a morning walk is that it allows us to refocus on our dream and evaluating what things are needed to reach them.

Keeps Your Body in Shape

While it's less intense than most gym workouts, morning strolls can still help keep our body fit and active. Brisk walking or a faster-paced walk is known to promote proper blood circulation and still burns a significant amount of calories. Moreover, it also lessens the stiffness in our joints and muscles.

A 30 or 40-minute walk can help you lose weight and get your energy high early. Furthermore, walking also causes increased heart rate which can strengthen it. Overall, early morning strolls benefits us by preventing many weight-related diseases.

Mental Benefits of morning walks

Improves Your Self-Image

We all have a picture of ourselves in our mind which we call self-image. It's how we see ourselves in the mirror. One of the rewards of a morning walk is seeing yourself sweat it out and work for something good for yourself. This simple activity can help us see ourselves in a better light.

A person who wakes up early has all the image of a motivated person. After all, it takes a certain amount of will to resist that urge to spend a few more minutes in dreamland. In short, an early morning walk rewards us to establish ourselves as a person who is disciplined and committed to getting things done.

Time to Bond with Other People

 Morning walks become more meaningful if you are doing it with a group or with a person important to you. Strolling with your friends, walking club colleagues, your children or your partner is invigorating. Not to mention, it can also deepen your bonds with people you share it with.

In short, the value of morning walks can extend to our social and personal lives. Because walking is not extraneous, you can still talk about life and just about anything under the sun. It's also a great way to catch up with friends and relatives who you haven’t seen for a long time.

Walk with your Dogs

People aren’t the only ones who can benefit from a morning walk. If you have a pet dog, you can bring them with you. This will make your strolls more interesting and less boring. For your dog, it's also a great way to get some exercise and some sunshine.

You can think of it as hitting two birds with one stone. You may also not find another time in your busy schedule to walk your dog, so a morning stroll is just the perfect moment to do so. Your dog will surely appreciate that he gets to spend some time with you.

Benefits of morning walks

Get Your Dose of Vitamin D

Early morning strolls rewards us also with free Vitamin D. Sunlight is a good source of vitamin D which is important for bone growth, inflammation reduction, and immune function among others.

When sunlight hits our skin, it generates vitamin D which you can also get from dairy products like milk and cheese. The only time on the day when you can safely get vitamin D from sunlight is in the early hours of the day before 8 or 9 am, depending on where you are in the world.

Improve Your Mood

Finally, the best perk of a morning walk is it improves our mood. Even though yesterday was a bad day, a good early stroll can help us get back on track. You can’t help but feel happy or uplifted when you exercise.

During walks or runs, our bodies release endorphins which is a neurochemical that decreases our pain and stress. For this reason, consistent morning walkers are usually more morally boosted than their bed-loving counterparts.

Conclusion

The rewards of an early morning walk are quite significant in our wellness and being. It may be a simple exercise or routine, but it's one of the easiest ways you can add on your schedule to live a healthy lifestyle.

Bamboo Toothbrush

Why You Should Choose A Bamboo Toothbrush Over A Plastic One.

 Cleanse the mouth, but dirty the planet? by continuing to use a plastic toothbrush, you’re actually doing just that.

If you’ve ever wondered how much plastic has invaded your life? Then start looking at your daily needs, and its essential accessories. How about your toothbrush, which keeps your mouth clean and fresh every day. 99% of the toothbrushes used around the world, is made of plastic. And here’s a reality check - Almost 1 billion toothbrushes are discarded every year in just the US. 50 Million pounds of these toothbrushes end up in landfills every year. On the other end of the planet, in Australia, it's 30 million toothbrushes that are thrown away every year. So with the standard plastic toothbrush, while your mouth stays clean, it leaves the planet dirty and polluted. Now that we have your focus on it let’s take a closer look at what’s all this fuss about, and how switching over to a bamboo toothbrush could help clean up this mess.

The different parts that make up a standard toothbrush:

The body of the toothbrush, which makes up the most part, is made of plastic, sourced from crude oil, and rubber for grip. The bristles are made from nylon and packaged again in plastic and a cardboard box. All of these items are non-biodegradable. Well except the cardboard, but the rest end up sitting for ages in a landfill somewhere or find their way to the ocean.

Landfill or the ocean, either way, we have polluted both beyond manageable levels. Plastic especially is of utmost concern since it doesn’t decompose but instead keeps breaking down into smaller and smaller particles, till they’re microscopic. And as it breaks down, the plastic continually leaks out toxic chemicals such as the deadly BPA. These toxins seep down and contaminate the soil and groundwater. Ocean pollution is even worse. Not only does our largest water source gets polluted, but also the marine animals and seabirds become a victim of our careless discarding of garbage. Just in case you didn’t know the actual scale of the problem, here’s a little eyeopener:  An era of plastic overkill

The larger animals get fatally entangled or choked by the floating plastic trash. The smaller ones ingest it, and as they get preyed upon, the plastic particles travel up the food chain. Already, one in four fishes is found to have plastic particles in their system. We know how much humans love and even depend on seafood. So for all you know, the plastic, that most people use to clean their mouth and then throw away, will in all probability end up, back in their mouths. That's one very good reason to learn about and switch over to an organic bamboo toothbrush!

Also, the manufacturing of those nylon bristles on the standard toothbrush emits a greenhouse gas, nitroxide, which is 300 times as toxic as carbon dioxide. Consider the fact that, billions of people around the world put this plastic and nylon combo in their mouth every day, only to discard it away once or twice a month. The amount of plastic toothbrushes that ultimately end up in landfills and the oceans is staggering. A bamboo toothbrush, on the other hand, would have simply decomposed without causing the environment or eventually us, any harm.

That’s the truth behind this deceptively simple instrument used to keep our mouth clean. But the reality is that there are plenty of alternative materials, available in nature, that can be used to make environment-friendly toothbrushes. The simple reason it isn’t already standard practice is that plastic is cheap and convenient, that is if you can ignore its harmful after-effects. The corporate world has always been selectively blind to the well-being of our environment unless they stand to lose ‘customers’.

A simple switchover to bamboo toothbrush can help keep not just your mouth, but also your conscience clean.

A bamboo toothbrush solves much of the trouble that the standard toothbrush brings along, which is plastic! At iBanPlastic, along with spreading awareness on the various issues around plastic, we also aim to provide access to the right tools needed in the fight against plastic pollution. And in this endeavour, the all natural Bamboo Toothbrush is one such item in our eco shop. Even the bristles of this organic toothbrush are of a plant-based material, and the packaging too is just cardboard and utterly free of any plastic.

Unlike commonly presumed, eco-friendly products won’t burn a hole in your pocket. There are plenty of organic alternatives to help break the plastic addiction. What better way to start, than by switching your plastic toiletries. Because, if you truly mean to keep your mouth clean, then It’s time to start using a bamboo toothbrush.

Obvious as it now seems, replacing plastic is not really rocket science. At least not when it comes to our simple daily needs. The bamboo toothbrush is a fitting example of this. Nature has always been able to supply us with our essential needs. It is merely a matter of breaking the plastic habit. The solutions are plenty if only one looks for it. Feeling motivated? Here are 5 Awesome Tips To Reduce Plastic Waste From Your Daily LIfe.

Awareness leads to empowerment. And now with the knowledge of bamboo toothbrush as the smarter and healthier alternative to that sinister plastic toothbrush, you too have the choice of empowering yourself and others.

The Stress Bucket

The Stress Bucket

Stress Bucket

Stress Bucket

How To Keep Your Stress Bucket Light, Conscience Clean & Fitness Level High!

If you've flown all the way to Thailand, then surely you have plans to visit some of its famous beaches. However, if you're a health conscious person, or even generally aware, then the sight that greets you at some of these beaches is quite depressing and energy draining. This is because, garbage, and not just the sight of it, weighs quite heavily in your stress bucket.

If you're wondering what we're talking about, then simply put, the stress bucket model gives a very apt analogy of how the amount of stress in the body (the bucket in this case), affects its health and performance. Clean the beach boot camp, with its unique approach to personal and environmental health, tackles the stress bucket issue in multiple ways. For this, we need to understand, what are the factors that add stress to the bucket, and what are the mechanisms that can help release some of that stress.

Firstly, it is evident, that the sight of a clean and pristine beach, makes one feel good. A dirty sight, on the other hand, is quite the mood breaker. This has a negative psychological effect on our body and contributes significant stress to the body. The lesser obvious fact is that the contaminants from all that trash are going to enter your system, causing you some serious harm, in the long run, if not immediately. This is because, sooner or later all those contaminants will pollute the water and food source that ultimately, enter our system.

Clean the beach boot camp has been designed such that, it helps to release stress both physically and mentally. The various exercises that you first perform have been proven to be very effective, making CBBC, great for fat loss! Successfully managing to lose weight is a very satisfying feeling and needless to say, a stress buster! The CBBC session also specifically include activities such as meditation, stretching, yoga and long walks on the beach, all of which help release excess stress. There are also, many benefits of barefoot training which almost all of the participants enjoy since it is quite natural to want to feel the sand under your feet as you move about on the beach!

That last part where you walk along the beach, you are also required to pick up and help clear the trash that is littered about. According to anyone who has ever participated in CBBC, this act, gives a sense of immense satisfaction for having done your bit in helping the planet. The various physical exercises help to reduce the physical stress in your body, while acts of good karma help release a large amount of mental stress, ensuring your stress bucket remains pretty light!

It is a faulty approach, to take care of your body, but be indifferent to the condition of the world around you. Because, at the end of the day, no matter how physically fit you try to remain, if the environment around you is polluted, then sooner or later it will enter your system too, negating any good you may have done for your body. That is why it is so important, to not just ensure a healthy personal lifestyle, but also that the environment you live in, is equally healthy!

The truth of the matter is, there are way too many inlets for stress to enter your body, such as the habits that affect your physical health, drinking, smoking, work stress, financial problems, family life, negative media etc. Surely, one cannot completely eliminate stress from one's life. In fact, some of that stress is necessary just like some pains are necessary! So the trick really is in Balancing the thick and thin in life, using the stress bucket model. Managing to lower your stress levels and maintaining it there is the best course of action for a healthy life. Have you ever felt a heavy load of stress being lifted, because you performed some good deed? That is the bonus feeling CBBC gives you, apart from stress release gained from its effective workout routine. If you've had similar experiences with acts of good karma, then please share it with all of us by commenting below.

Coming Soon: A Pan-Europe Ban On Single-Use Plastic

Coming Soon: A Pan-Europe Ban On Single-Use Plastic

EU to ban single-use plastic

EU to Ban Single Use Plastic

The word is out. One of the top-tier officials of the European Union has let out that legislation to curb the increasing amount of plastic waste in Europe is on its way. This wonderful news of a wide-scale ban on single-use plastic comes from none other than the European Commission's first vice president, Frans Timmermans.

We must be thankful to Michael Gove, Britain's environment minister, who in his attempt to jibe at the European Commission, in turn, got out the good news from Timmermans, in advance. Gove, a fervent supporter of Brexit, had insinuated how creating and implementing environmental laws in the UK such as banning plastic straws, would be a hassle if it were under the EU. Gove gave the impression that certain measures to protect the environment that Britain would like to implement, cannot be taken while still under the EU.

The British minister's words were, however, very well received by Timmermans, who it seems jumped at this opportunity and took to social media to send out the news of the action planned against single-use plastic across the EU. Timmermans tweeted to Gove: "One step ahead of you. EU legislation on single use plastics coming before the summer. Maybe you can align with us?". The former vice president's reply was sharp, yet humorous with his choice of words that included among several others the hashtag #EUDoesntSuck!

Speaking to Sky News, Gove, citing the example of plastic straws being a scourge to the planet, took a firm stand against plastic. Exclaiming the numerous ways in which single-use plastic is polluting our oceans and damaging the marine ecosystem, the minister pointed to the urgent need for some concrete steps in-order-to protect the environment.

Although he is not wrong in his stand against plastic, Mr Gove, however, forgot about Scotland. A part of the UK, but still very much within the European Union, Scotland, soon after banning cotton buds made of plastic, now plans to get rid of plastic straws by 2019. You can read about it here -  Councils across Scotland, ban plastic straws. The fight against plastic is undoubtedly gaining voice as more and more prominent people are becoming vocal about it. Recently, David Attenborough convinced the BBC and the Queen of England to ban single-use plastic.

At a recent conference in Brussels, Timmermans pointed out the urgent need for curbing plastic consumption. Timmermans words could not be more real for Europeans, especially given that China has now decided to limit its plastic waste imports. He also stressed the importance of working together with businesses to curb plastic consumption, find efficient ways to reuse and recycle and most importantly to prevent any leakage of microplastic. And the folks in Britain need not worry, since, till the Brexit is fully implemented, the new EU legislation would apply to the UK too.

It is such news from different parts of the world that is adding a much-needed momentum to the fight against single-use plastic. Reports of one nation banning plastic straws or bags or cups etc. encourage and inspire the next nation to do the same. So let us all, first as individuals, make changes in our lifestyle to reduce plastic consumption and then, help educate others into adopting an environmentally friendly lifestyle. If you feel we are on the same side, then help us spread awareness by sharing this article with your friends.

Massive Microplastic Contamination Detected In Seals & Deep-Sea Fishes

Massive Microplastic Contamination Detected In Seals & Deep-Sea Fishes

Massive Microplastic Contamination Detected In Seals & Deep-Sea Fishes

plastic pollution affecting seals

Plastic has infiltrated into the very depths of the ocean. 75% of the mesopelagic fish in the North Atlantic, a popular food item for the oceans primary predators, have tested positive for microplastic fibres in their system. The researchers further confirmed the presence of microplastic in the scat of grey seals and also in the Atlantic mackerel, eaten by the seals.

These shocking facts come to light as another team of scientists, have, in the United Kingdom, discovered microplastic fibres even in the excretion of seals kept in captivity. Further investigating the food chain, confirmed the presence of plastic in the Atlantic mackerel that these seals routinely feed on. Details of this study have been published in the journal - Environmental Pollution. Various studies have made it evident that the microscopic plastic presence is no longer just limited to the marine animals feeding near the water surface but also to those living in the deeper ends of the ocean

Scientists estimate that the plastic in the ocean will overweigh the fishes in there by 2050.

Another recent study in which scientists examined over 233 fishes caught from a remote area in the North Atlantic that is east of Canada's Newfoundland revealed similarly shocking results. Approximately 73% of these fishes had micro-plastic contamination in their digestive tract. The sample fishes included many varieties of bristlemouth fish, Bean's sawtoothed eel, lanternfish etc. Since the expedition was conducted many hundred miles away from any coastline, Alina Wieczorek, lead author and a National University of Ireland Galway's PhD candidate, was surprised at the level of contamination discovered from the study. It is clear now that plastic pollution has infiltrated even the remotest areas of the ocean and is impacting pivotal ecological players such as the mesopelagic fish. The team of scientists too, conducting the study, were highly concerned at finding such amounts of micro-plastic in the mesopelagic fish.

Wieczorek was also partly surprised since the amount of micro-plastic found was much higher compared to the previous two studies which had found 11% and between 9-35% contamination respectively. These differences, according to Wieczorek, could be explained by the difference in the precision of the research method used. This research made use of an alkaline dissolution which was much more concentrated to separate the plastic particles from the guts and further a very fine mesh filter was used to catch even the smallest plastic pieces. Scientists from this latest expedition noted that these extremely small plastic particles make up almost 20% of the total sample, which could also explain the difference in contamination levels found in the different studies conducted.

Another interesting thing to note is that pretty much all of the plastic collected from the surface water as well as those from the fishes were plastic fibres. These plastic fibres come mostly from woven materials such as clothes or the fishing gear ropes. Clothes that use plastic material shed thousands of such microplastic fibres, especially when washed. For this reason, the scientists had to be extra careful not to let plastic fibres from their own clothes fall into the test sample.

A significant portion of the ocean's biomass is the deep-sea fishes. These fishes, during the daytime, mainly reside in the mesopelagic zone at depths of up to 3000 ft, but swim up to feed in the nutrient-rich surface water. The plastic fibres collected from the surface water and the deep sea fishes had identical colour, shape and size, indicating that these fishes most likely consumed the plastic from the surface waters during their routine migration to the top where they feed during the daytime.

The problem of plastic in the mesopelagic fishes are not just limited to the fishes but have much larger repercussions. For one, these fishes are fed upon by some of the oceans top predators such as sharks, tuna, salmon etc. thus having the plastic contamination move up the food chain. Reports of larger marine animals fatally suffering plastic ingestion are becoming quite common. Recently, 29 kilos of plastic was found inside the tummy of a sperm whale that washed ashore in Spain. With all the seafood that people around the world love to consume, it is not hard to imagine how then the plastic particles make into the human system.

How Does Microplastic Concern You?

Another major threat to the ecosystem is the transfer of plastic pollution to the ocean floor, through the mesopelagic fishes that feed near the water surface during night time and later excrete on the seabed in the daytime when they swim back down. Scientists have already confirmed the presence of micro-plastic in deep-sea organisms.

Although the team that conducted this latest study, have not yet examined the harm caused to the fishes by the microplastic in their system, Wieczorek suspects the plastic contamination, apart from the poisoning through the toxic chemicals that it leaks, could impair their feeding impulse causing weight loss. And since we already know that plastic pollution moves up the food chain and into our system, its the adverse effects of human health is a matter of extreme concern.

University of Toronto's scientist, Chelsea Rochman, had conducted similar studies in the past. In these, she too found the presence of micro-plastic in different marine animals including fishes from the South Pacific gyre and even among many types of fishes and bivalves such as oysters, mussels etc. commonly sold as food, in California and Indonesia. Chelsea also pointed out the importance of investigating, where and how precisely the micro-plastic enters the system of these marine animals.

None of this should come as a surprise, considering the amount of plastic we dump into the oceans every year. In case you don't know the magnitude of the situation, read this - An era of plastic overkill. People around the world are the primary source of these microscopic plastic particles polluting our oceans, which eventually make it back into our biological system.  It is obvious then that the change must begin with us by significantly reducing or even putting a complete stop to unnecessary plastic consumption. Start with yourself, and then help spread awareness by sharing articles such as these. If you've already made specific lifestyle changes to reduce plastic consumption, let others know through your comment below so that they may get motivated to do the same.

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