I’ve always valued time in nature. An early morning walk before the rest of the world awakes, a stroll along the beach as the waves crash onto the shore, there’s nothing that gives me greater pleasure than feeling the warmth of the sun on my face, a soft breeze and the sounds of birdsong and feeling at one with the world.

But as we have moved to live in more urbanised centres, where work takes precedence over almost everything else, the time we spend outside has diminished. The NHAPS survey reports that the average American spends 90% of their time awake each day, indoors.

This can have a number of adverse effects on our health and mental wellbeing. It’s time to get out more to appreciate the beauty of our natural world and reap the benefits of better health and happiness.

In times of adversity it’s easy to get weighed down by negative thoughts and feelings. But does that mean we can’t still experience happiness? Happiness is just one of our emotions and we can lift our spirits to enjoy greater hope and optimism by choosing to be happier using one strategy that is simple to use, costs nothing and is always freely available.

It’s called nature.