Last week we explored the first big change over the last 200 years that has led to much human misery - being sedentary. And found out that leading a far less active life than before has put us in a state of evolutionary mismatch & in deep conflict with nature's cadence. This week we explore the second big change & its impact
At the turn of the last century, in the year 1900, an average human being spent about 10 to 12 hours every day outdoors. In a dramatic reversal of this state - according to various estimates done in the US and other developed nations - we spend an average of just 2 hours a day outdoors (including for exercise, leisure, commuting etc), a reduction of 80% in just a little over 100 years! The remaining 22 hours of the day are spent inside covered spaces - inside houses, offices, schools, theaters, restaurants, hotels etc. Thus, the second big change: the human species has moved away from being a significantly outdoor animal to becoming an intensely indoor animal
Living a big of part of life in purpose-built shelters (ie. 'indoors') in not unknown in the animal kingdom. For example, bees spend a big part of their life in hives as do ants in anthills. But the human is probably the only species that has changed its behavior so drastically as to go from spending the majority of life outdoors to well under 10%, in a very quick time
What are some of the implications of this rapid retreat indoors by human beings? Modern research suggests the following major implications:
Too little sunlight : the first big impact of the human retreat to covered spaces is the lack of sunlight in our lives. Modern research has proved that sunlight has a wide-ranging impact on our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. With more sunlight, we develop better resistance, we sleep well and our Vitamin D levels go up leading to better bone health. Not having enough sunlight disrupts all of these
Too little fresh air & microbial diversity : Indoor spaces tend to be climate-controlled without enough availability of fresh air or exposure to a wide range of valuable microbes that improve our immune systems
Too little exposure to nature : As those of us who take walks or hikes or in any other way go into nature know very well, we feel a powerful sense of calm & contentment whenever in the midst of nature. The negative implications of not having enough exposure to nature are now so well studied that experts actually have a technical term for it - Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD)
Lack of grounding : Another consequence of spending very limited time outdoors is our lack of connection with earth & soil. The earth is a living entity filled with microorganisms, nutrients, water & air; it is a place where humans interact with the larger cosmos through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Walking barefoot on soil has been proved to significantly beneficial for improved sleep, reduction of stress, reduction of blood viscosity, activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. Spending all our time indoors deprives us of this powerful & intimate connection to nature
Intriguingly, this aspect of living indoors was examined by the Indic civilisation 3000 years ago, even though the problem was far less acute than today. According to the ancient Indian Knowledge of wellbeing, there are five important reasons for us to spend a lot more time outdoors:
- to get more sunlight
- to get a deeper connection to living soil
- to build a continuous proximity to animals which can have a profound impact on human wellbeing
- to complement our restricted lives with products that are easily gathered from outdoors
- to supplement our body & mind with fresh herbs, berries, fruits and other non-farmed produce
Thus, the two big changes that have enormously impacted modern wellbeing are:
- a sedentary lifestyle in which we spend most of our life being physically inactive
- a life spent mostly indoors where we get very little exposure to the outside world
