129: (Best Of) Why 20 Minutes Outside Really Is Perfect, Plus Other Ways to Better Your Outside Times (Dr. Kathleen Wolf)

Humans Outside

We liked this episode so much we're releasing it again!

In 2017 when Amy picked 20 minutes as her minimum daily outdoor time, she based that decision on some research she read in passing that said 20 minutes is enough time to spend outside and see health benefits from doing so. But Amy isn’t a social scientist or a scientific researcher, so her choice of 20 minutes wasn’t overly scientific either. That and every other outdoor decision she’s made is just based on gut.

So was she right? Has her outdoor experiment been aimed at the right thing -- or has she been wasting her life on the wrong timing and wrong activities? In this episode we bring in an actual outdoor experience researcher and scientist, Dr. Kathleen Wolf, to weigh-in on not just what the research says about what Amy is doing, but on how everyone can get the most out of their own time in nature.

Connect with this episode:

Learn more about Dr. Kathleen Wolf: http://www.naturewithin.info/webCV_KWolf.pdf

Read Dr. Kathleen Wolf’s long term project, “Green Cities: Good Health”: http://depts.washington.edu/hhwb/

Find Dr. Kathleen Wolf on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katwolf/

Register for our newsletter to win a decal: https://humansoutside.com/newsletter Follow Humans Outside on Instagram: Https://www.instagram.com/humansoutside

Some of the good stuff:

[1:49] Dr. Kathleen Wolf’s favorite outdoor space

[4:16] Kathy’s journey to outdoor researcher

[6:58] What the research says about nature making you feel better

[9:24] What the research says about spending 20 minutes outside a day

[12:26] Is Amy too worried about dosage or doing something different every day?

[25:41] Does what you do outside matter?

[28:18] Is some of Amy’s outside time worthless?

[32:23] A Seatac airport secret - shhh don’t tell

[34:56] How people can get the most of their outdoor time

[39:07] Kathy’s favorite and most essential outdoor gear

[43:11] Kathy’s favorite outdoor moment