According to a 2019 study, spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. So, we’re rounding up some of the most joyful and unusual ways to pass the time outdoors

“Nature is fuel for the soul,” Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, said.

In Professor Ryan’s study, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, 537 college students were split into five separate experiments. In one, the students were taken on a 15-minute walk either through indoor hallways or along a tree-lined riverside path. In another, they looked at photos of buildings or landscapes. And in the last, they were asked to imagine themselves in active and sedentary situations, both inside and outside, and with others and without.

When the results of the study were in, the students reported that their energy and vitality levels were lifted by being outside, or even just from imagining that they were, and the researchers came to a conclusion: that being in nature makes people feel more alive.

And to get more specific, a separate study, published in Scientific Reports, revealed that 120 minutes per week is the optimal amount of time to spend in nature if you’re looking to improve your health and wellbeing. So, all there’s left to do now is to decide what to do with the time you’re given – and we have some ideas…

Add a quick two-step into your walk

Walking and dancing: two things that have been shown time and time again to improve our mood and our wellbeing. But add them both together? Now you’re talking. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General found that walkers who moved fluidly, and waved their arms in a sort of improvised dance, generated more ideas than those who walked normally. Breaking out of our usual patterns of behaviour is shown to help us think more creatively, making this a great tool for blowing away brain fog. It doesn’t have to be a full-on moonwalk – a hop, skip, or spin here and there, or even just moving your arms rhythmically could do the trick. Not brave enough to go at it alone? Bring a friend along, or the whole family, and you’ll soon leave any self-conscious feelings behind.

Feel the ground beneath your feet

Here’s a fact you might not have been expecting to read: feet have nearly twice as many nerve endings as penises (more than 7,000 in each foot, compared to 4,000, in case you were wondering). For this reason, feeling the ground beneath your bare feet invites intense and fascinating sensations. Soft soil and dewy grass, warm, cool, tickly, smooth – there is so much to experience. And all these experiences come together to ground us in the moment, forcing us to connect with the environment and the body that we’re in.

Find and create natural aromatherapy spots

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When it comes to climaxing, why are heterosexual women drawing the short straw?

Do you remember the last time you orgasmed during sex? According to research, if you’re a woman in a heterosexual relationship, this question may leave you scratching your head. This is thanks to ‘the orgasm gap’ – a term that has been coined to describe the discrepancies in orgasms during sex.

Now, orgasms alone don’t define satisfying sex, but there’s no denying that orgasm for those with vaginas tends to be less prioritised. One study into the orgasm gap by the International Academy of Sex Research found that 95% of heterosexual men usually orgasm during sex compared to just 65% of heterosexual women. Other studies concur, with the gap widening during one-night stands compared to sex in a long-term relationship.

So, what’s happening here?

“The two main things to look at with the orgasm gap are what’s happening physically, and what’s happening contextually/psychologically,” sex and relationship therapist Tabitha Bast explains. “Sex is often seen just as PIV (penis in vagina) sex in heterosexual encounters, which, for many women who need clitoral stimulation either directly or indirectly, literally doesn’t hit the spot. When we dismiss everything else as foreplay, we end up rushing through a whole smorgasbord of pleasure.”

With so many of us seeing penetration as the ‘main event’, we can easily dismiss other acts with potential for pleasure. This is a cultural issue, and we only have to look at mainstream media to notice it. When did you last see a sex scene where a person with a vagina climaxed outside of penetration? Recognising that sex can encompass a range of activites could be a big step forward.

Noting the numbers regarding orgasms during one-night stands, Tabitha says: “Orgasm is about the brain, not just the body! If you don’t trust the person you’re naked with, that’s a massive barrier to pleasure. Saying that, an end to violence against women and girls would be the most useful move for closing the orgasm gap: there needs to be enough safety for everyone to take fun risks together.”

There are certainly wider societal issues that need to be addressed, but is there anything we can do on an individual level?

“Women knowing about their own bodies is a good start, and men knowing about women’s bodies is a good second start,” says Tabitha.

Educating ourselves about anatomy, and the clitorus in particular, can help us understand what feels good for those who need this type of stimulation to orgasm. Not sure where to start? We love Kama, an app with an inclusive approach to sex education that has pleasure at its heart.

Communication is another tool to utilise, according to Tabitha. Not just about what feels good and what doesn’t, but being honest about how we’re feeling.

“If people are trying to fake being super cool and confident when they’re actually unsure and anxious, that’s not conducive to good sex,” Tabitha says.

“There’s an unhelpful myth that men should automatically know how to please their partners, and actually how one person orgasms is not the same as

From groundbreaking studies to ordinary people doing extraordinary things, we're rounding up the good news stories that you might not have heard about

1. Employees clock on to the importance of mental health

Scan any job listing these days and you’ll usually find a list of employee benefits, chosen to convince you that this company is where you want to be. The day off on your birthday, summer hours, and subsidised canteens are all tempting but, apparently, they don’t top the wish lists of job-seekers.

A study by Easy Offices looked at the most popular employee benefits, and found that companies that were taking the mental health of their employees seriously had a significant advantage over those that weren’t.

Virtual counselling topped the list of most popular benefits, followed by insurance to help cover the cost of mental health treatment, virtual support groups, tools to build mindfulness and resilience, and training on how to help others with mental health problems.

The study also tracked an increase in the number of companies embracing employee assistance programmes. That said, a recent YouGov poll found that only 57% of employees knew about benefits schemes at their work.

So, do you know what’s on the table at your organisation? With demand for wellbeing benefits rising, it’s safe to say that these kinds of perks are more than just a passing trend, and working on your mental health could be an inside job.

2. Dutch start-up Lightyear has developed the first solar-powered electric car, which it hopes to release this year!

3. Plastic-free paradise on the horizon

In some great eco news, it’s been reported that plastic waste on Australian beaches has reduced by 30% in the past six years. This rapid pace of positive change is due to initiatives by local councils, including extra bins, notices reminding people not to litter, and a hotline dedicated to reporting illegal waste dumping. This is a clear sign that we can all clear up our acts – and beaches.

4. A Yorkshire-based business, Banana Moon, has released the world’s first ‘anxiety hoody’

Created with the intention to provide sensory relief to wearers, the hoody features chewable toggles, a fidget popper, and weighted pockets, helping to redirect anxious energy, and move you from fight-or-flight to rest mode.

5. New research shows a ‘substantially faster’ way of gaining knowledge

If there was a way to supercharge your ability to learn, would you take it? According to a new study published in the Journal of Psychological Science, there may, in fact, be a way to ensure that we are more ‘ready to learn’ before we explicitly try to tackle something new.

Vladimir Sloutsky, study co-author and p

Knowing what we’re willing to share, who has access to our inner circle, and when questions are crossing the line is one thing, but expressing it effectively is another. Here, we’re exploring how to set and maintain healthy boundaries

Boundaries are how we teach the world to treat us. They are all about what is and isn’t acceptable, and draw the line between who we are, and who the world wants us to be.

Particularly when interacting with another human who has different priorities, needs, and desires, boundaries are crucial in order to not blend into each other, and to be able to separate what they want from what we need. When we are unable to do that, this is when codependency, enmeshment, and simple confusion can occur. We lose sight of who we are, and our own identity when our daily decisions are formed by what others are asking of us.

When we lack confidence, it is tempting to cave to everyone around us, as we might be insecure that if we don’t, we will lose the people in our lives. This is why the easiest and simplest boundary, the one we first learn, is actually quite a hard word to say: no. When we are able to use our no accurately, our yes becomes more powerful.

Unfortunately, when we say no though, it can be inconvenient to others, and if you don’t stand behind your no, you leave yourself vulnerable to change your mind simply to make things easier for them. It can be really upsetting when people only want you around for what you can do for them, but, over time, you will reap the benefits of boundary setting. You will have more time and energy, you can say goodbye to burnout, and all the anger and resentment you are keeping inside you every time one of your boundaries is crossed can finally be relieved.

Here, we’re sharing some essential tips on how you can implement and maintain healthy boundaries in the three main relationship areas of your life.

Family relationships

One of the biggest complaints I hear about family relationships is that family members feel entitled to their opinions about your life, your job, your romantic relationships, and your body. How you can create a boundary around this is by limiting the information they have access to. This can be by stating: “I’m not ready to share that with you yet, but I’ll let you know when I am ready.” If they don’t know, they can’t have an opinion about it.

But, what if it’s too late and they already know? Then try saying: “I have already made my decision, and your opinions are not needed. I would appreciate it if you could be supportive.”

When it comes to conversations about your body, I encourage you to be firmer. Your body should never be up for discussion at a family event, and we need to stop normalising everyone commenting on changes in our appearance. In those situations, I simply state: “Please stop commenting on my body.” If this persists, I then say: “If you continue talking about my body, I am going to leave this conversation, and you can come find me when you are ready to talk about something else.”

Friendships

In my book, The Joy of Being Selfish, I explain that it is OK to have different

Something not right, but unsure where to turn? Here we look at how self-help and professional help can support, and which may be right for you

Self-help is a booming business, with books, apps and even self-led courses all available to help you help yourself. These tools can go a long way in supporting your mental health and wellbeing, but how do you know when self-help is enough and when it may be time to see a professional?

I sat down with CBT therapist and mindfulness teacher Natalie Englander to learn more about self-help and professional help, and how to know which route to go down.

Understanding the differences between self-help and professional help

To start with, it can be helpful to get to grips with the key differences between self-help and professional help, so you can understand what you can get out of them.

With self-help, you will likely be working alone, usually through something like a book or a course. “So, you are relying on yourself to read the book, to understand it, and to try and then put it into practice,” explains Natalie.

As self-help is usually created for groups of people, Natalie highlights that they tend to be generic and, therefore, wouldn’t be tailored to you as an individual. “Sometimes people can actually find this really reassuring, picking up a self-help book, reading it and thinking ‘this sounds exactly like me’.”

In contrast, professional support (like seeing a therapist) is tailored to your needs. It will often involve a consultation so the professional can get to know you and understand what support would be right for you. You also have someone to help you through the process, perhaps providing some accountability on the way, Natalie notes.

“Professional help also allows you to share your thoughts and feelings with someone, which you might not necessarily be able to do reading a self-help book and that in itself can be so therapeutic, being heard.

“If your emotions become heightened during the process, you also have someone there to talk to, which you don’t have while reading a book.”

Natalie was also quick to point out that a book is cheaper than private therapy – which is certainly a key difference and a consideration many are factoring in right now. So a lot to consider and no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ approach; it’s all about considering where you’re at and what you think you would benefit from now.

Which is right for me – self-help or professional help?

We’re all different and taking these personal tendencies into account can help when thinking about this. Natalie mentions that if you are someone who can motivate yourself, self-help could suit you as you won’t have that external person providing accountability.

Another consideration is the severity of what you’re going through and how much it’s impacting your day-to-day life.